The Owen Sound Public Library is continuing its Memoir Series by welcoming a one-time Olympian to the city.
The Owen Sound Memoir Series will feature author Valerie Jerome.
Jerome competed for Canada at the 1960 Rome Olympics for running, after winning a bronze medal at the 1959 Pan-American Games in the 4×100 relay.
Jerome will be reading her own family’s story, which was published last year in the book Races: The Trials & Triumphs of Canada’s Fastest Family.
Her maternal grandfather, John Armstrong “Army” Howard, was born in Canada in 1888, and was the first Black Olympic athlete from Canada, when he competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.
Jerome was born in 1944 in Manitoba, and at the age of 7, moved with her family to North Vancouver, and while the family had experienced racism her whole life, the move to North Vancouver was a different experience.
The neighbourhood they moved to in the city was one of the few that didn’t have rules preventing a homeowner from selling their home to a Black buyer, which is a rule that other areas had. Her family moved into the new home, and on their first day of school for the Jerome children, upwards of 200 of their White schoolmates were waiting for them, with rocks ready to throw. Jerome says she figures that the children throwing rocks at her and her siblings were just carrying out their parents’ bidding to prevent the family from living in their community.
In the face of adversity, Jerome started to run competitively, as did her older brother, Winston “Harry” Jerome, who was a gifted athlete.
Her brother won gold at the 1959 Pan-American Games, won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, and competed in the Summer Olympics in 1960, 1964, and 1968. He also set seven individual world records for his speed.
She says that when they were able to participate in sports and compete, they felt free. “We found a home in sports. Our track club was just the most wonderful place to be. No matter the weather or how bad we felt, missing a workout was never an option.”
She said in an interview with Bayshore News that she also was able to see footage of herself competing for the first time and experience the exhilaration of seeing footage of herself competing in the Black Life series on CBC Gem. “Just looking at it, it went through my body like an electric shock just remembering how much joy I got out of it. It wasn’t the competition so much as the freedom. The workouts were as important to me as the competitions.”
Jerome decided after her brother passed in 1982 at the age of 42, it was time to start writing down his story, and the story of their family.
“I felt that these athletic stories would certainly be a draw for a number of Canadians,” says Jerome. “And interwoven there into our family[‘s story] is the story of racism.”
The racially-charged violence wasn’t just an occurrence in the schoolyard but also happened in her own home.
Her mother was half-Black, half-White, and was not proud of her heritage, particularly because of the shame she felt after being rejected by her mother’s second husband, who didn’t want to raise children of mixed ethnicity.
“If you don’t like yourself, it’s not likely you’re going to like your children,” says Jerome. “You don’t make people happy with racism… My mother was very deeply scarred, and she didn’t make life easy for us.”
She says that over the decades, she still experiences racial inequalities.
After her brother’s passing, she decided to put pen to paper and write down their family’s story, including interviewing people who knew her brother closely. Her manuscript was completed in 1991, but she was rejected by every publisher she sent a copy.
Jerome says that she decided to leave it for a while, and tried again years later. Races wouldn’t be published until September 2023.
She says that she thinks it’s because “The publishers weren’t my tribe. They didn’t get it.”
In her last attempt to find a publisher, she sent a copy of the manuscript to four of them, and they all said no.
She sent it to another four different publishers, and two said yes.
“I can still remember myself jumping up and down,” says Jerome.
She was also told by a close friend of Harry’s that he would be proud of her telling their story.
Both Jerome and her brother chose to pursue careers in education after they were done with athletics. It was a natural fit for both, as they got inspiration from their track coach.
Jerome, who was a teacher for more than 35 years, says that she enjoyed teaching grades 4-7 the most. She also says that she still hears from students, even if they live in other parts of the world. She says that the most rewarding thing about teaching was the fact that she was able to make a difference in the lives of so many young people.
As for her time in Owen Sound on March 1st and 2nd, she says that she hopes anyone who attends the event will be able to recognize her humanity.
“I hope they can recognize the humanity of the people – all of them – in the book. We are Canadians, we have done our best to be good citizens, and we are worthy of an equal place in this country.”
Tickets are available through the Owen Sound Memoir Series website.
