Story Characters
Virginia O’Hanlon Douglas
In 1952, Virginia O’Hanlon Douglas, 63, was principal of the New York City hospital schools. Virginia had earned her undergraduate degree at Hunter College, an MA at Columbia, and later a PhD at Fordham. Her petite frame, silver hair, and standard pearl necklace might cause some to prematurely underestimate her character, to cast her in the sweet-little-old-lady persona, which would be unwise. Because it takes one tough woman to deal with a doctor too busy to answer questions, a nurse unwilling to bend visiting rules, a parent refusing to advocate for their child, or a student who has lost hope.
Valerie Jackson
Virginia’s assistant was Valerie Jackson, 45, a Black woman. She was a quiet, polite woman of average height. The metal and leather brace on her lower right leg was a surprise to some. Valerie had earned an undergraduate degree in teaching and a graduate degree in English from Hunter College. She’d supported herself through school working as a waitress in a restaurant that served only whites. Her slight frame, feminine features, and demure style of dress might give someone the impression she could be a pushover, which would be a fatal mistake. One didn’t acquire the grace and strength Valerie possessed without successfully navigating some of life’s toughest challenges.
Ben Wilson
New York City cab driver Ben Wilson looked like he might have grown up on a farm somewhere in the Midwest, not Brooklyn. His soft brown hair curled a bit on top; his eyes were more hazel than blue. Ben’s brown leather jacket was worn and looked like he might have had it since he and his friend, pilot Joe Martinez, served in Europe; Joe with the US Army Air Force, Ben with the Army 82nd Airborne. Both men were in their mid-thirties, that wonderful time in life when they might be young fathers, and unjaded. But the war had left its mark on Ben, and he bore its hidden scars.
Megan McGuire
Fifteen-year-old Megan McGuire is on the verge of discovering everything wonderful life has to offer in 1952—or was—until polio circumvents her plans. If she survives the onslaught of symptoms, she faces a world without an ADA Act, navigating a high school without handicap ramps, and the perceived loss of everything associated with a normal teenage social life—all stamped with the stigma of polio.
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Patricia P Goodin, Author, The Santa Claus Girl
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