''Terry'' is a pictorial

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for can ...

written by Canadian author

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms Generation X and McJob. He ...

in 2005 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Fox's death.

Overview

Written with the support of the Fox family, ''Terry'' reflects the

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

style of

’s '' Souvenir of Canada'' projects. Succinct narrative sections frame some 150 photographs, many of which are previously-unpublished images and

memorabilia A souvenir (French language, French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memory, memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collecte ...

from the Fox family archives. The book presents Fox’s life, his

Marathon of Hope Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for can ...

, and his immediate and continuing resonance with the Canadian public. Coupland donates the full royalties from the book to the

Terry Fox Foundation The Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held around the world to raise money for cancer research in commemoration of Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. The event was founded in 1981 by Isadore Shar ...

in support of cancer research.

Structure

''Terry'' is arranged as a pictorial record of the life and influence of Terry Fox, using the family album or

scrapbook Scrapbook may refer to: * Scrapbooking, the process of making a scrapbook Software * Scrapbook, an early (1970s) information storage and retrieval system developed at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom * Scrapbook (Mac OS), ...

as its artistic model. Coupland applies an economy of narrative to give the images, letters, and photography an increased biographical force. Arranged into brief sections that each service two or three pages of photography, Coupland’s narrative presents Fox as an unexceptional

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Canadian accomplishing an exceptional thing. This artistic decision allows Coupland to demonstrate, at times explicitly, that Fox's heroism is similarly available to any otherwise ordinary person.

Coda

In addition to the funds that it raised for the Terry Fox Foundation, Coupland’s book contributed to the sustained memory and public legacy of the athlete and humanitarian. It is, for instance, credited with having led to the discovery of the van, a 1980

Ford Econoline The Ford E-Series (also known as the Ford Econoline, Ford Econovan or Ford Club Wagon) is a range of full-size vans manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced for 1961 as the replacement of the Ford F-Series panel van, four ...

, in which Fox and his brother lived during the cross-Canada marathon. ''Terry'' endures as a public window into the relics and memorabilia of the Marathon of Hope which Coupland sifted through by the thousands for the items formed into the completed book.

Overview

Structure

Coda

References

Further reading