Let your f ingers do the reading
St. Mary’s author’s series picked to be printed in braille
It was all for the sake of authenticity that Liz Cooper found herself chasing a woman down a Baltimore street in 2018.
The 69-year-old Cooper was penning a book titled “Mitzi Mufflin Principal for a Day” about a blind child and was wondering if her book was an accurate portrayal, so when she spotted a blind woman with a blind child, she started running.
“I didn’t know any blind children and I wasn’t sure how accurate my details were and if I was being respectful,” Cooper recalled. “How pushy that was I don’t know, but I told her I wrote a book and asked if she knew anyone who might be interested in reading it.”
Melissa Rickabono read it and later told Cooper, “You nailed it,” but did offer a bit of advice.
“One thing is I had a character grab a character’s elbow instead of the other way around,” said Cooper, who lives in Tall Timbers. “And she said, ‘I need to feel your elbow because if you’re going downstairs I need to know you’re going down stairs. If you’re holding onto me I have no idea where you’re going, so I’ll take your arm.”
By a stroke of luck, Rickabono’s husband, Mark, is the president of the National Federation of the Blind.
And recently, more than 4,000 copies of three of Cooper’s books — “Bluebell Skinks Wheelchair Kid,” “Mitzi Mufflin Principal for a Day” and “Morris Flip Sound Machine” — were printed in braille and will be distributed to blind children across the country by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults.
All three books are part of Cooper’s Potts-Abilities Series.
Mark Rickabono wrote that the organization “chose your books particularly because they represent diverse characters in a positive way,” and that the “content of your books will be the basis for increasing literacy for blind children in the coming year.”
“I was thrilled,” said Cooper, who added that an audio version of the books will be available on Amazon.
Cooper has now written eight books, which she said are intended for ages 8 to 11.
“I love funny stories, and I wanted to celebrate characters who are often marginalized, not only in literature but on the playground,” Cooper said. “My books are more about a kind of our perception and how we treat people with disabilities. None of my plots are ‘poor disabled person versus bully.’”
Cooper was thrown a curveball in January 2014 when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. She had surgery in October of that year along with radiation treatment and chemotherapy.
“I did all the major things you do for cancer, the whole nine yards,” said Cooper, who added she is “fine” now.
She said putting words to paper helped her during her medical setback.
“One of the best things about writing is that it has been extremely challenging and it’s very good for your brain,” she said, referring to Chemo Brain where it’s hard to find words. “Writing really helped me get my words back.”
She went on to publish “Bluebell Skinks Wheelchair Kid,” a story about a girl out to prove that kids in wheelchairs can gain acceptance, popularity and perhaps even fame.
The May 2019 edition of Kirkus Reviews said the book was “very entertaining, with an irrepressible, cheer-worthy heroine.”
Several years ago, she placed in the Top 10 out of 5,000 entries in a contest cosponsored by Scholastic and Woman’s Day Magazine. She submitted a story called “Francois and the Tide,” which ended up being the first chapter of her book “Granny’s Teeth.”
“Mitzi Mufflin Principal for a Day” was named the winner of the 2021 Females of Fiction Awards in the Chapter Book division where judges noted its “strong female character.”
Cooper said “Morris Flip Sound Machine,” which tells the story of an autistic child who uses sound effects to communicate, “took no time at all” and that she wrote “Superbus” as a gift. She later wrote “Plinky Witch and the Grand Halloween Scheme,” which was her first attempt at illustrating.
Cooper suffered a personal loss when Maria Santucci, who illustrated Cooper’s “How To Analyze and Improve Your Child’s Reading Skills” and other books, died on March 12 at the age of 51.
“Maria was extraordinarily talented, yet humble, preferring to cheer others on rather than talking about her own accomplishments,” Cooper said.
Born in Long Island, N.Y., Cooper earned her nursing degree from Catholic University in 1973. She was an obstetrics nurse at Washington Hospital Center and MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, and was the first and only school nurse in the county in 1977 at Green Holly Elementary School in Lexington Park.
She has also owned two educational children’s toy stores, was a teacher, an instructional resource teacher and the St. Mary’s public school system’s supervisor of reading from 2002 until her retirement in 2011.
She also started a few businesses, including one that made her patented knitting needle holders.
“She’s a woman of many talents,” said Cooper’s husband, Dave, a dentist in St. Mary’s County. They have two grown sons and five grandchildren.
She is currently filming an online course for the parents of struggling readers and is hoping to release five new books within the next several months, including a teacher’s reference of school-related poems and discussion prompts for the first couple of weeks of school.
“Kids aren’t reading right now,” Cooper said, “and parents don’t know how well their kids can actually read and how to read with them more effectively. I’d like to help change that.”
For more information on Liz Cooper and her books, email lizcooperauthor@gmail.com or go to www.lizcooperauthor.com.