Author Leslie Davidson.
It all happened in the same week. Leslie Davidson’s children’s book, In the Red Canoe, was releasedto bookstores and, simultaneously, Davidson found out she was the winner of a CBC Books contestin the non-fiction category.
“There were two things that happened, which has been confusing for people,” she said. “I was inPortland, Oregon, going to a world Parkinson’s congress, which is a big convention for people withParkinson’s and all of the people who work with them, when the CBC announcement came.”
That announcement had to do with a contest Davidson had entered through CBC Books. In February,Davidson entered in the creative non-fiction category. She wrote a short, 1,500-word piece,submitted it, and then forgot all about it.
“Really, I did it so someone would read it. I knew it was juried, so someone would have to read what Iwrote. It ended up surprisingly being on the long list, and then the short list, and then winning,” saidDavidson, who, along with her husband, relocated to Revelstoke in 2013 to be closer to their childrenwho live here.
Titled Adaptation, the piece tells the story of Davidson and her husband, Lincoln Ford, as theyjourney through the reality of learning to live with their respective illnesses. In 2011, both Davidsonand Ford were diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases: Davidson with Parkinson’s disease, andFord with Louis Body dementia.
“The story is about when we were still living in Grand Forks and I was trying to keep life as it wasbefore diagnosis. And he was struggling very much with cognitive function. We were big hikers. Wewere off on a hike, more of a long walk one morning and he presented with a symptom that Ithought we had managed, which was recognizing me, but believing I was an imposter,” saidDavidson.
At that point, said Davidson, her husband wanted nothing to do with her. To make matters evenscarier, they were a mile from home. The couple had already walked a long ways and Ford, in hisconfusion, wanted to walk up river, which was away from the direction of their home. On top of all ofthis, Davidson had not brought her cell phone with her.
Intertwined with the main story, is the story about the first time Ford’s Louis Body symptoms causedhim to view Davidson as an imposter while at a movie theatre.
“Adaptation is just about this journey and getting used to big changes in our lives. Trying to beproactive and finding out I was always being reactive,” said Davidson. “Finding out the disease wasalways one step ahead of me, his disease in particular; no matter how hard I was trying to get thingsin to place that would be helpful for him.”
While Adaptation is a deeply personal story, In the Red Canoe is a children’s book. “It’s just a day inthe life of a child and her grandfather in his red canoe,” she said. “It’s just the things they see. It’sabout being quiet in nature and open and observant, and all of the incredible things you mightchange upon.”
Davidson will be at the Revelstoke Library on Thursday, October 27, at 7 p.m., to present her book, Inthe Red Canoe.
http://www.revelstokereview.com/entertainment/398266961.html
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