Freeing Teresa: A True Story about My Sister and Me
by Franke James
GENRE: Memoir
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/10/2023
DESCRIPTION:
When an idealistic activist objects to her siblings' plan to ship their disabled sister off to a nursing home, she's forced to choose between family and her sister's freedom.
Franke objected when she heard the plan to put her sister, Teresa, into a nursing home. Teresa, who was born with Down syndrome, refused to consider the idea. She wanted to stay with her father.
But the other siblings, who were acting as Teresa's "guardians," insisted that Teresa needed 24/7 care. So, the siblings put Teresa into a nursing home. Franke was horrified. She put a team together to help Teresa get discharged. That's when all hell broke loose. And the two sisters had to stand together - against their siblings, the medical system, and the police - to defend Teresa's right to be free.
The institutions have closed, but today there are thousands of young people with disabilities forced to live in nursing homes. The right to decide where you live is a civil rights issue for all people with disabilities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Franke James is an award-winning activist and author. She’s fought City Hall to build a green driveway (and won); been blacklisted by the Canadian Government for her climate change art—and turned their silencing into international news. Her latest book, Freeing Teresa: A True Story about My Sister and Me, is about choosing her sister’s freedom over her family. Franke helped her younger sister get out of a nursing home. Then all hell broke loose. The two sisters had to stand together—against their siblings, the medical system, and the police—to defend the right to be free.
Franke and her husband, Billiam James, helped Teresa regain her decision-making rights and get a public apology from the Ontario Minister of Health. In 2015, Franke won PEN Canada’s Ken Filkow Prize for her “tenacity in uncovering an abuse of power” and BCCLA’s Liberty Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2014.
Franke lives in Vancouver, BC, with her husband and her sister, Teresa.
REVIEWS:
"The result is more than a memoir: it's a testimony to how 'tickets to freedom' are gained through fighting and love, displaying how Teresa's own wishes and interests add fuel to the fire of empowerment on many different levels." D. DONOVAN, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“Gut-wrenching and awe-inspiring. This story will break your heart and then fill it up again.” CATHERINE McKERCHER, author of Shut Away
"This is a gripping story about courage, love, and an unshakeable belief in human potential—about people who possess a rare combination of optimism with savviness about power, law, and human nature. Inspirational." MARTY SELDMAN Ph.D., WSJ Bestselling author of Survival of the Savvy
“Full of insight, heartbreak and inspiration. This no-holds-barred story is a must-read for anyone working in the field of disability rights.”
KARLA VERSCHOOR Executive Director, Inclusion BC
“Freeing Teresa is authentic, raw and riveting.”
Isabel Mavrides-Calderon, @Powerfullyissa
COMPARATIVE FILM/BOOK:
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019 film) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4364194/
CASTING:
Scarlett Johansson as Franke James, Patricia Arquette as Deirdre, and Lauren Potter as Teresa Heartchild
PRIMARY VENUES/LOCATIONS WITHIN THE BOOK:
East Coast (Toronto), and West Coast (Victoria and Vancouver)
BOOK EXCERPT:
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