When Jim Mauro, a well known community builder and former police officer was diagnosed with cancer he was inspired to write a book for his grandson as a lasting tribute he could cherish long after he was gone.
“The diagnosis put pressure on me to get the book written and it helped create a specific direction for the narrative. I knew it was going to be a Christmas story, but when my grandson was diagnosed with autism, it made the narrative of the story even more obvious”, reflects Mauro.
“I have always loved Christmas. Putting up the Christmas lights in May seems late in the year to me. I love how people seem to take a bit more time to interact with each other on a more personal level, they’re more kind and more jovial”, says Mauro.
The book centers around a special little boy and how he was chosen to be the next Santa Claus.
Jeff Howie, a friend of Mauro’s, described the book like this, “This book brought me to tears. It’s a book the world needs now more than ever. We also learn to understand that no matter who we are we have gifts that help us achieve extraordinary things”.
Proceeds of Mauro’s book are being donated to charity, with the largest portion to George Jeffrey Children’s Centre, a facility Mauro and his grandson are familiar with.
“They fund a program that my grandson attended which was an enormous help with his autism (Early to School), which helped with his transition to JK. It is my hope that I will be able to support some of the other local autism programming that exists in our city. They do amazing work”, admits Mauro.
