Heather Cariou
Heather Cariou was born, raised and educated in Ontario, Canada. As a child, she dreamed of becoming both a writer and a ballerina. When she learned the fates of the Bronte sisters, Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath, she chose ballet over writing, and trained for a time at the National Ballet School of Canada. She fantasized that fans would someday drink champagne from her toe shoes, a la Anna Pavlova. Seeing Elaine Stritch as “Mame” in 1969 changed all that, and she decided to become an actress. But ultimately writing drew her back. Today, she is a founding member of the Galaxy Writers Workshop in New Jersey, and sits on the Board of the International Women’s Writing Guild, to whom she owes her life as a writer. Ms. Cariou is proud to count the following authors among her mentors: Ted Conover, D.M. Thomas, Sally Bingham, June Gould and Eunice Scarfe. Heather emigrated from Canada to New York City in 1983, and now lives on the Hudson River in New Jersey with her husband, stage and screen actor, Len Cariou. She is currently co-producing the feature film of “Sixtyfive Roses” with Eva Longoria and UnbeliEVAble Productions. Besides her memoir, “Sixtyfive Roses” she is working on a novel. |
Sixtyfive Roses: A Sister’s Memoir
Synopsis: Six year old Heather Summerhayes promised to die with her sister Pam,
who at the age of four was given only months to live when diagnosed with
Cystic Fibrosis. Yet through the next remarkable 22 years of battle
against her illness, Pam taught Heather how to live. Sixtyfive Roses
is the way Pam pronounced the disease that altered the lives of her
siblings and parents, who in turn helped alter the community s response to
the disease by founding the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. With
the help of the Foundation, research, and new treatments, the fight to
save Pam lasted for years, ending with her death at the age of 26.
Heather and her family had to learn to survive the tragedy of her sister's
illness, and her loss.
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