About the Author
Cathrin D'Avignon wrote The Perfect People in the early 1990s. She loved her elder daughter Caitlin and her youngest had just been born. She wanted a way to teach her younger daughter how to deal with her big sister being in a wheelchair. In a word, how not to treat her as if she was different at all. So she wrote a story she originally named Princess Caitlin of Hamilton. She shared it with her daughters and with the other children in her family, naming a lot of the characters after beloved family members. The book which would eventually be named The Perfect People was a love song to children everywhere with disabilities. Cathrin even attempted to have the book published, but the early 1990s were not that welcoming to Princess Caitlin's story.
Cathrin did everything to encourage Cailtin to experience all she could. She drove her daughter to farms and zoos, wheeled her wheelchair in forests and on beaches, found her music and dance teachers.
Cathrin, called Cathi by her friends and family, was loved by all and it left a deep ache in our hearts when she lost her fight with cancer in 2012.
After taking time to mourn, it seemed clear another shot should be made at publishing her book. Her words and her message still hold true today and we hope she can inspire others to reach beyond their limitations, just as she did her best to always encourage us to reach beyond ours.