You write a book to entertain and, hopefully, inspire. And sometimes it really does.
Yesterday I attended a cookout on Lake Champlain with some friends. One of these friends, Todd, who I don’t know particularly well, had caught a ride to the cookout with my friends Scott and Ali and their family. While he was waiting for them to leave he saw a copy of my book, Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World, sitting on a counter – I had given Scott and Ali a copy a few weeks before.
As Todd later told me at the cookout, he recognized the book but until that moment had not been aware that I was its author. You see, a few days before he had been visiting some friends, a woman and her teenage, hearing impaired daughter. The woman, a tri-athlete, had discussed the book with him. She had already purchased it and read it with her daughter – Trudy Ederle was hearing impaired, and her daughter immediately identified with the swimmer.
In this case the subtitle “How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World,” is proving accurate. Inspired by the example of Trudy Ederle, mother and daughter are now in the planning stages to swim the English Channel together.
[Note: I took this photo a few weeks ago on the east shore of Lake Ontario]
Glenn,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that I finished reading "Young Woman and the Sea" and absolutely loved it! I found myself so consumed by the story that my heart broke for Trudy during her times of disappointment and soared at her accomplishments. I cried when she finally made it across the channel and felt so full of pride for her and for the changes she initiated in the world and the lives of every woman then and now.
Thank you for telling her story and for all the historical goodies you embedded in the pages. A "must read" for every athlete, woman, history buff, and person with a pulse.
Happy Writing,
Emily Ferguson