Author finds inspiration in daughter’s competitive spirit

Sometimes being the inspiration for your mother’s new children’s book means sharing the page with a talking horse.

That isn’t really the moral of the story behind “Run, Rikki, Run,” just a quick side note.

Author Margie Fisher wrote the story about a horse looking to recapture the joy of competition in tribute to her daughter, Brooke, a 24-year-old woman with Down syndrome who is better than fair at horseback riding.

“She is a competitor, a real competitor,” Margie Fisher said.

And like any real competitor, Brooke Fisher has had to learn to lose as well as win — although as a state champion horseback rider chances are that she’s more familiar with the latter.

Margie Fisher admires her daughter’s ability to process victory or defeat with equal grace.

“I was envious of the balance, the freedom to let go of either one,” she said.

That’s the life skill that the horse at the center of “Run, Rikki, Run” learns — with the help of a young girl who has Down syndrome.

Margie Fisher hopes to have the book available in time for the Centre Region Down Syndrome Society’s Buddy Walk on Oct. 14, but interested readers can also place orders by contacting her at 21tomorrows@gmail.com.

She already has one fan in Brooke, who in between holding down three volunteer positions, singing the national anthem at Penn State athletic events and sitting on the board of the CRDSS somehow found time to read her mother’s yarn.

“It’s amazing. I love the story and what it did to me,” Brooke Fisher said.

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Author finds inspiration in daughter’s competitive spirit."