He published his first novel, Joshua, in 1983, which was the first of a whole series of books which had the premise of Jesus Christ returning to earth and living as an itinerant carpenter.
[2] The story, written in a simple language, of a carpenter and Christ-like figure who arrives in a small town and transforms peoples' lives with random acts of kindness and messages of peace struck a chord in readers and was brought to the attention of an editor at Macmillan Publishers.
[2] The first book of the series was made into a movie with the same name, released in 2002, which was financed by the wealthy entrepreneur Philip Anschutz, who was a fan of the novel.
[1] Having sold over a million copies of his books within some ten years, the earnings were so great that in 1995 Girzone was able to acquire a 100-acre estate, with a 21-room Victorian mansion on it, in Altamont, New York,[3] which he named Joshua Mountain.
In Schoharie County, the foundation operated a food pantry, delivered meals and helped to pay heating bills of the rural poor.
[2] After that long period of success, due to changes in the publishing industry and the loss of his aging readership, Doubleday dropped Girzone without any warning after the lackluster release in 2007 of Joshua's Family.
[2] In 2015, Girzone entered hospice care at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, where he died on November 29 of that year from complications due to his long-standing heart disease.