Caribbean Canadian authors helping to re-build hurricane damaged schools

Walter & Company 70 Ruddington Drive# 704 Toronto, Ontario M2K 2X8, Canada Tel: 416 880 9104 Fax: 416 322 6950 Email: [email protected] News Release For Immediate Release Caribbean Canadian authors helping to re-build hurricane damaged schools Toronto, Canada – November 23, 2004-A group of Caribbean-Canadian authors is helping to raise money to re-build schools damaged by the hurricanes that battered Grenada, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, The Dominican Republic, Panama, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. The group consists of four authors and Burke’s Bookstore, Canada’s oldest Afro-Caribbean bookstore. One dollar from each of three books sold through Burke’s secure on-line store at www.burkesbookstore.com will be donated to the fund. The campaign runs from November 15, 2004 through Kwanzaa, Christmas and Black History Month concluding on February 28, 2005. A cheque will be presented to UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund) at the end of March. The books chosen for the campaign are: A Sea of Wisdom, Island Proverbs, by Ingrid Walter and Sabina Theobalds, Reggae Silver, by Horane Smith and It Could Never Happen to Me, by Michelle Richards, all new releases. (Please see page two for information on the books and authors, also please visit www.unicef.org for information on the relief effort.) “We have all been touched by the heart wrenching stories of the deaths of children and the destruction and damage to hundreds of homes, schools, day care centres and health care facilities. We felt the best way to contribute would be to help return children to safe, sanitary and secure schools,” says award winning journalist Ingrid Walter who recently published, A Sea of Wisdom, Island Proverbs. Her first book, it shares with readers a collection of wise and funny proverbs as well as a snapshot of scenery, culture and history from seven Caribbean islands. “We hope people will see this as an opportunity to give a gift of a book not only to friends and family but to a worthy cause as well,” says internationally acclaimed author Horane Smith. Smith agreed to donate funds from the sale of his fifth book Reggae Silver, about a popular Reggae singer who is framed by drug dealers and struggles to save himself from poverty and deportation. According to the UNICEF, more than 120,000 people in Haiti, Grenada, Jamaica, Cuba and Panama were either displaced or left homeless by the hurricanes, many of whom were children. In Grenada 90% of houses and structures on the island were damaged or destroyed. In Jamaica, an estimated 300 schools were damaged. For more information, please contact: Ingrid Walter, Tel: 416 880 9104, [email protected] Horane Smith, Tel: 905 856 7467,[email protected] Rita Burke, Tel: 416 656 5366, [email protected] Please also visit UNICEF’s web site at www.unicef.org or www.unicef.ca for updates on the relief effort and contact information. THE BOOKS AND THEIR AUTHORS: A Sea of Wisdom, Island Proverbs by Ingrid Walter and Sabina Theobalds CAN $9.95 Co-authored by an award winning journalist, this book shares with readers an engaging mix of sage, funny and entertaining island proverbs while taking them on a scenic, historical and cultural journey through Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Lucia, Antigua, Barbados, Cuba, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Ingrid Walter is an award winning journalist and communications specialist whose work experience spans politics, television, radio and print. Originally from Jamaica, Ingrid is known in Canada’s Afro-Caribbean community for her feature articles on national and international icons of colour as well as her thought-provoking opinion columns. Sabina Theobalds who assisted with the research and editing of the book, has a Masters of Business Administration, with a specialization in International Business. She is also an artist of St. Lucian ancestry who was born in Montreal, Canada. Reggae Silver by Horane Smith. CAN $ 24.99 This is the internationally acclaimed author’s 5th novel. It tells the story of a popular Reggae singer who is wrongly accused of robbery and attempted murder. He fights to prove his innocence as he faces the threat of deportation, poverty and continuing battles with a drug dealer who has framed him. Described by the Ottawa Citizen, one of Canada’s largest newspapers as “no ordinary novelist”, Horane Smith is best known for his debut novel Lover’s Leap based on one of the Caribbean’s most famous legends. Published in England in 1999 to international acclaim, John Prebble, the late British best selling author, well known for the 1960s box-office hit, “Zulu”, starring Michael Caine, commented, ” I have read it with great admiration. Not only is it a bitter sweet story, but a profound comment on a contemporary subject.” Smith has been described by book reviewers as prolific…. going from strength to strength.. and an engaging writer.” It Could Never Happen to Me by Michelle Richards Can $ 11.95 This book is the 22-year-old Michelle Richards’ first novel. In, It Could Never Happen to Me, the neophyte author takes on the ugly reality of sexual abuse of young teenage girls in a story about a 15 year old who is abused by her stepbrother. Michelle Richards started writing stories at 6 years old and poetry when she was nine. She won the Literary Award in Elementary School three times and on graduating from high school in June 2000 received the Language Award for accomplishments in English and French, also taking home the Artistic Award for “outstanding work in the fields of performing arts and literature.” “It Could Never Happen to Me,” is Michelle Richards’ debut novel.