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.
