A Tatla Lake 10-year-old is a published author.
Liam Daud wrote Liam Grows Nasturtiums in 2020 with help from Claire Gordon, who was principal at Tatla Lake Elementary Junior Secondary School at the time, and one of the teaching assistants Judan Whitehead.
“They entered him into the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions contest for youth writers and he placed second in Canada and they published the book now,” said his mom Lee Anne Wright this spring. “They have asked Liam if he wants to write another book about growing something else.”
In the book there are photographs documenting the growth of nasturtiums from seed Liam eating one of the flowers, which are a peppery and colourful addition to a salad.
As he describes the growth stages, Liam notes the “tiny vine is choking the adult vine and causing the adult leaves to die.”
The book is available at his grandfather’s West Chilcotin Trading Company store in Tatla Lake. It is in English and in French all under one cover.
Wright said her son is on the spectrum and he loves plants and anything to do with science.
“He loves animals and would rather be outside,” she added. “The school does lots of outside activities year round. They do lots of science at the Tatlayoko field station and have thinking trees they hike up to once a week,” she said.
Every year the students receive seeds from the international space station and do a program called the Tomatosphere.
“They get two different kinds of seeds. One that was on the space station and one that wasn’t. They have to track which one did better and send in that information.”
Wright moved to Tatla Lake when her father Dave Wright retired from the RCMP and purchased the store. He’d worked in the area in the early 60s and always wanted to come back.
“He’s fond of saying that the Chilcotin grabs a hold of you in your heart and never lets go.”
READ MORE: Smart 55: Drawn by the beauty of the Tatla Lake area
She attended school in Tatla Lake for a year and then went into Williams Lake and then finished off through correspondence.
After Liam was born she returned to Tatla Lake with her husband and now works at the clinic in the community. They have another son Anthony, 6.
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