The impact of Joe Rantz and his Olympic Games teammates just keeps growing.
A collaboration between the Sequim School District and Sequim Education Foundation has put into the hands of students 500 copies of “The Boys in the Boat,” Daniel James Brown’s account of the American eight-man crew that won gold at the 1936 Olympics.
In addition, Brown is coming to the Olympic Peninsula in the fall for a visit to talk with the students about his literary work.
Originally published June 4, 2013, “The Boys in the Boat” centers its story on Rantz, who had early ties to Sequim, attending Sequim High School for a time and marrying a Sequim resident.
Nellie Bridge, a Sequim High School English language arts teacher, applied for a grant from the
Sequim Education Foundation to buy 500 books: 250 copies of the Young Readers Adaptation for the middle school and 250 copies of the original edition for the high school for students in grades 6-12. Books arrived in mid-February and Sequim teachers are assigning readings to their students, district officials said.
Major donors for the book purchase project included Sound Community Bank ($2,500), Sequim’s Trinity United Methodist Church ($1,000) and Soroptimist International of Sequim ($1,000).
On a visit to Sequim in November 2015, Judy Willman — Rantz’s daughter and key figure in promoting her father’s legacy — learned of the local effort for a school-wide read of “The Boys in the Boat” from Sequim High School librarian/teacher Linsay Rapelje.
“Judy gladly volunteered to talk with Dan (Brown) for us and even offered to be part of his presentation,” Rapelje said.
Less than a week after their conversation, Rapelje said she received an e-mail from Brown stating he’d volunteer to do a community presentation and fundraiser for the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association.
Brown’s author talk is set for Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Port Angeles High School auditorium; the presentation is open to Sequim and Port Angeles students, and admission will be free.
For more information about “The Boys in the Boat” project, call Patsene Dashiell, communications director for the Sequim School District, at 582-3264.
