Claire’s Race

Having a published book is nothing new for author Nancy Wilcox-Richards, but that still doesn’t take away from the excitement.

 In front of an enthused audience of teachers and elementary students at Bayview Community School, Ms. Wilcox-Richards, also a teacher at the school, tells the story of the inspiration of her recently published book, “Claire’s Race.”

Nancy Wilcox-Richards stands at Bayview Community School on May 15 with Claire, the inspiration for her new book, "Claire's Race." This is the seventh book Ms Wilcox-Richards has had published. Brandon Wile Photo

A young blonde-haired girl sits in the corner of the room just as attentive as the others, her smile stretched from ear to ear. This young girl is Claire.

 Claire is Ms Wilcox-Richards’ neighbour. She suffers from epilepsy. Because of her condition, she has limited vision in both eyes, no use of her left arm and her leg is usually supported by a brace. On this day, however, there is no sign that Claire is letting her disability slow her down.

 Ms Wilcox-Richards, whom you might know from her “Farmer Joe” books, felt obliged to tell Claire’s story.

 ”The afternoon Claire’s mother told me about Claire running the race, I couldn’t sleep. The next day I went over and told her I had to write this story. The thought of it being published didn’t even cross my mind, I just had to write her story.”

 Due to her limited vision and mobility, Claire was unable to do things such as ride a bike or go rollerblading, for her own safety.

 However, her parents were always encouraging her to find other alternatives. Looking for an option, Claire one day came home signed up for the school’s cross-country team.

 Despite the obvious concerns of the rough terrain of the course, Claire’s parents allowed her to participate.

 When asked how she finished, Ms Wilcox-Richards jokingly responded with, “You’re going to have to read the book,” and then added, “She finished the race and you couldn’t find a dry eye, even the people who weren’t aware of her story were cheering her on.”

 The book is receiving a lot of attention as it was the second-best seller in Nova Scotia last week. Ms Wilcox-Richards was caught off guard by the success but is very proud that her book has done so well.

 What makes this book even more special is how the proceeds will be distributed.

 ”The nice part about ‘Claire’s Race’ is that I’m donating all the royalties to the Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia. They’re going to take that money and channel it back to Grade 5 students in the province to educate them about epilepsy.”

 With seven published titles to her name, the Grade 2 teacher doesn’t have any plans to stop writing anytime soon.

 ”I am currently looking at a sequel to my book ‘How to Tame a Bully.’ It’s going to be a hockey story, and I hope to have it out by the summer of 2008.”

 As for Claire, “She’s truly an inspiration. She’s had to go through extensive rehabilitation and physio and she hasn’t let any of that slow her down,” said Ms Wilcox-Richards.

HMCS Fredericton – Press Release

THE GULF OF ADEN — Being versatile is something the HMCS Fredericton prides itself on. The Canadian frigate is currently patrolling the Gulf of Aden on a NATO counter-piracy mission, but is now shifting its focus to counter-terrorism.

The new mission will begin at the end of February as the HMCS Fredericton will attempt to stop suspected al-Qaeda operatives from entering Yemen.

The region has come under fire after the attempted bombing over Christmas of an American airliner, by a Nigerian al-Qaeda operative believed to be trained in Yemen.

HMCS Fredericton has been running escort missions in the shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden during the last couple of months. Their duties are to prevent Somali pirates from attempting to hijack vessels.

While the pirates were armed during attacks, their objective was to secure ransom money rather than to harm the hostages. The new counter-terrorism mission will bring about much more risk for the members of the HMCS Fredericton.

The Armed conflict in the region is comparable with what is seen in Afghanistan.

Despite the risk, Lieutenant Brian Owens wants to reassure Canadians that his men are well prepared.

“We are using a fully functional warship and the crew members are all specially trained to deal with this type of mission. There are different rules regarding piracy than counter- terrorism but we are always doing our job with a heightened awareness,” said Owens.

The HMCS Fredericton will be accompanied by warships from Australia, U.S.A, England, Pakistan and some others from Middle Eastern countries.

While the ships focus has shifted, Owens still assures that they are not dropping the piracy policing role. Adding the counter-terrorism mission only heightens the responsibility.

The Fredericton will be expected to cover waters of the Gulf of Aden as well as the Red Sea and Arabian Sea if needed which are very dangerous but vital shipping lanes.

The HMCS Fredericton is expected back in Canada by the end of April.