154: Nichola Zacher (2)

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My guest this week – and for the second time – is Nichola Zacher, a children’s story writer from Ontario, Canada (see http://marleysdream.com/). Nichola talks about her English roots and how her father worked on the railroad and her mother was a secretary for the Teachers’ Federation.
When she was born, Nichola had an operation and she was written off and told she wouldn’t be able to go to school or live independently. But, she overcame her disability and received extra support in schooling from her father, particularly in maths.
We learn about her earliest memories and about why Nichola wants to help other children, and she speaks about the importance of unconditional love. We learn how she used to spend her summers and about the music she listened to, including Olivia Newton-John.
We learn about the time when Nichola taught in a hospital day care environment and about the value she places on reading to children.
We discover who the teachers were who inspired her, and the role of Christmas and churches in her life. Religion was important to Nichola when she was growing up, and we talk also about political allegiances.
Nichola became an author after her dad was diagnosed with dementia and she explains why she then decided to buy him a puppy. We also learn about the importance for Nichola of closing the gap of division that people are feeling and how the universal message of love always brings people together.
Things came full circle for Nichola when she looked after her father when he became ill. We also learn that Nichola is in touch with friends from her past and why she isn’t the sort of person who likes to sit still for too long.