(WMC-TV) - Mary Alice Gandy was 106 years old when she finally got her first chance to vote.
Now, her grandson has come out with a new book chronicling Gandy's journey from the Jim Crow era to the election of the country's first African-American president.
When Mary Alice Gandy voted in the 2008 presidential election, she made history by voting for the first time and as one of the oldest people in America to cast her vote.
"Actually it went viral on the BBC, CNN, went all across the world," said William Gandy, Junior.
Gandy Junior says President Barack Obama also heard about his grandmother and called to personally thank her for voting for him.
"And that was a big deal for us back then," Gandy laughed. "She really didn't realize who it was at first. She thought it was someone playing on the phone."
And now Gandy has chronicled his grandmother's historic vote in a new children's book called "Grandma's Big Vote".
Gandy says he wrote his book with the hope that young people will read it and have a greater appreciation for voting rights.
"Because if my grandmother made an effort at 106 to vote, there should be no excuses for anybody at any age not to go out and register to vote," he said.
Gandy says his grandmother had wanted to vote in the 1940s but Jim Crow laws made it difficult for African-Americans to vote back then.
Through narrative and illustrations, the book takes you back in time. It shows you how the daughter of freed slaves never gave up on what she knew was her right to participate in the political process.
Gandy says his book has been selling like hotcakes, in fact, several school systems have already added it to their curriculums and now there is even talk of a movie.
Gandy says the movie will be a tribute to his grandmother's courage and determination.
Mary Alice Gandy died in 2009, one year after the first presidential election she voted in.
Now, her grandson is hoping her legend will become an inspiration to others.
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