See those kids in Ghana holding up a copy of Suzanne de Montigny’s book? That all happened because de Montigny had a crush on Bobby Sherman when she was 10.
Here’s how the story goes goes.
De Montigny is an author from Burnaby and confesses that when she was 10, like many kids her age, she had a big crush on then-teen-idol Sherman and wanted to be on his TV show Here Come the Brides.
“Unfortunately I lived in Chilliwack B.C. instead of Hollywood, plus I couldn’t act my way out of a paper bag,” she says in a press release. “So, like most of the girls at that time, I eventually forgot about Bobby and moved on to the world of real boys.”
De Montigny became a teacher in Vancouver, where she discovered she had a knack for storytelling and thus began her career as a writer. Her award-winning first novel The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy was released in paperback from MuseItUp Publishing in the fall of 2014.
Then, for her 55th birthday present, de Montigny decided to give herself a gift: seasons 1 and 2 of that Here Come the Brides show she used to love.
“It’s a show that takes place in the 1800s about three brothers who import 100 marriageable women to become brides to the mostly male population of Seattle,” she explains for the benefit of those who may not remember.
She watched the shows and then got curious, searching Facebook for her old idol, Sherman.
“I discovered that Bobby Sherman and his wife, Brigitte, had begun a school in Ghana that they called the Musical Village, for children with musical talent willing to work hard. Apparently only 60 per cent of all children in Ghana receive an education, and only 40 per cent complete high school, and they wanted to do something to help.”
On a whim, she wrote a message to Sherman and his wife, offering up a donation of a class set of her novel complete with her study guide. They said yes, and she sent the copies abroad – and got the photo above in return.
“This is a dream come true for me to see kids from across the world with my novel and knowing they’ll be studying it,” she says. “Africa is really where the story belongs since the underlying theme is endangered species, particularly the elephants and rhinos whose population has diminished substantially as a result of poachers.”
The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy is a fantasy novel for kids aged nine to 12, a tale about unicorns surviving the aftermath of an asteroid only to be driven to near extinction by the arrival of humans. It’s available locally at Chapters Metrotown and Coles Lougheed Mall.
De Montigny is donating half of her proceeds to the Third World Eye Care Society, a group of eye specialists who travel to Third World countries delivering eyeglasses and performing surgery for free.
Find out more about her at www.suzannedemontigny.com.
