Rob Murray: I’m speaking with James McCreath about the book Forever Terry: A Legacy in Letters, available this week. What is this book about?

James McCreath: September 1st is the 40th anniversary, sadly, of the day Terry Fox had to stop his run outside of Thunder Bay. We wanted to do something memorable to honor his legacy, and we came up with this idea of a book where we would feature contributions from Canadians, both famous and not so famous, on what Terry has meant to their life. Included in the book are many names that people would know including the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Hayley Wickenheiser, Lloyd Robertson, Jim Pattison, and from a Calgary and Bow Valley perspective Bret Hart, Jann Arden, and Catriona Le May Doan. We’re quite excited about the book and look forward to sharing it with Canadians.

RM: What’s your personal connection with Terry’s story?

JM: I started doing the run in 1981. I was three at the time and my parents brought me. I’ve done it ever since. Then I’ve been involved in volunteering, historically with the Calgary run. I had this idea to do something to celebrate Terry’s legacy and approached the foundation and Terry’s family, and with a little bit of persistence they agreed to do it.

All of the people involved in the book gave freely of their insights. No one’s being paid for their involvement, and all the author proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Terry Fox Foundation.

RM:  When you were approaching all of these big names, was it easy to get contributions from them?

JM: Some of them were really hard to track down. I’ll tell you a quick story about Sidney Crosby. We reached out to the Public Relations person at the Pittsburgh Penguins. The woman there who does PR said Sidney does nothing extracurricular during the season. Ultimately we pressed, she mentioned the idea to Sidney, and remarkably he came back and said I’m all in on this. In fact, I have a picture of Terry Fox hanging in the front foyer of my house in Pittsburgh. Every day I walk out my door, I look at that image of Terry and it gives me immense inspiration. These little vignettes are all over the book with just how much Terry’s inspired so many Canadians.

RM: How has he inspired you? Why have you stayed so connected to Terry Fox and his legacy over the years?

JM: How is he not inspiring? A lot of people forget, 40 years ago, some of the things that he was doing were at the infancy of where they stand today. Things like peer-to-peer fundraising, which ultimately the yearly run fundraiser has become. Even talking about cancer, it was kind of kept in the shadows. Included in the book are some people with disabilities. They acknowledge, all that time ago, if you had a prosthetic limb, it was maybe a bit embarrassing or the public didn’t fully embrace you. Terry made that all acceptable. That humility, that perseverance, that determination makes him, in my opinion, the greatest Canadian that’s ever lived.

RM: Back in 1980, the world of cancer and survivability was a lot different then, wasn’t it?

JM: A hundred percent. There are some stories in the book about people that fully acknowledge that they likely would not be alive today were it not for Terry’s commitment to the cause. Where we stand today is over $800 million raised by the Foundation. The likes of Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Christine Sinclair, mentioned that cancer has touched their family. That’s, I’m sure for your listeners sadly, the case for most people hearing this interview.

RM: Where can people pick up this book?

JM: It’s available through all the normal places, the likes of Indigo online or in stores and at Amazon. Of course, I always remind people, the last six months has been a grind for small businesses, so if you can get to your independent local bookstore that’s as good a place as any to buy the book. There’s the great bookstore on Main Street in Canmore (Café Books) where people in the Bow Valley corridor can go support a local bookstore and buy Forever Terry.

I’d say to people, when you pick this up, have a box of tissues close by. The stories are incredibly emotional. If you like what you read, buy two or three and give them to a family member or a friend, because the stories are deeply inspiring. It’s been a chaotic six months in the world, Rob, and I think Terry is that light of inspiration that people can grab onto and maybe lift themselves up a bit.