STATE OF TEXAS - TSL - TALKING BOOK PROGRAM Moderator: Danielle Elder January 24, 2013 6:47 p.m. CT Moderator: Welcome to our January Book Club for the Talking Book Program. We're going to go ahead and start. The author, Rachael Scdoris, she seems to be delayed so we'll go ahead and start with the discussion of the book and hope that Rachael will join us shortly, If she does, we'll just pick up from there. But meanwhile, we'll just sort of begin a book club – a regular type book club discussion. OK. First a little bit about the book. The book was about Rachael Scdoris, who – her childhood experiences, with her visual impairment and how she trained and developed the skills necessary to complete the 10,000 plus Iditarod race. She was the youngest athlete to ever finish a 500 mile race and the only legally blind musher to complete the Iditarod. She detailed the race in the NLS edition of the book. And part of what she's been up to recently is that since the book, she has – or including the book, she's ran the Iditarod four times. She has been featured in newspapers, on national TV. She was the Person of the Week on ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. She has been recognized by the Oregon Commission for the Blind, Goodwill Industries, the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, the National Association of Girls and Women in Sports and the Perkins School for the Blind. She was nominated for an ESPN ESPY award, and also has been nominated for the Prestigious Medal of Honor Society Above & Beyond Award. She actually was a torch carrier in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, a 2005 recipient of the Casey Martin Award from Nike to recognize athletes who overcome challenges. In 2008 as if running the Iditarod wasn't enough, she rode a tandem bamboo bicycle all the way from Alaska to Cancun, Mexico which was over 6,000 miles. It was a campaign to raise awareness for climate change. In 2010, she was the recipient of the Helen Keller Award for Extraordinary Effort to Improve the Quality of Life for People with Vision Loss. Moderator: All right. Thanks for coming. And we were – we talked about – did you hear us talking about why you wrote the book when you did? Rachael Scdoris: No, I missed that part. Moderator: Well, I guess there were some questions about what inspired you to write the book when you did. But why did you write it when you wrote it? Rachael Scdoris: You know, a lot of people said I should have waited until after the Iditarod. What happened was we had talks around the idea and agreed that no, we didn’t have the time. But then some guy called my dad and informed him that he was a screenplay writer and didn't ask but told him that he was going to write a book and a screenplay about me. And when my dad said, "Hold on a minute. Let's talk this out. I'm not sure I'm OK with this. We have to talk to Rachael about it." And the guy said, "Well, actually, no, I don't. I can write about whatever I want. And if you don't go along with this, I'm going to just change Rachael's name to Mary and move her to Montana and you can't do anything about it." So we said, we'd better write the book now before someone else did and mess it up. Moderator: Cool. But did you enjoy the writing process? Rachael Scdoris: I didn’t really write. I talked for 150 hours. Rick wrote it all. Moderator: Oh, my God. OK. So was that an enjoyable process? Did you like talking about yourself? or… Rachael Scdoris: You know, I liked hanging out with my uncle Rick. That was fun. Talking about myself so much, uh, it was a little uncomfortable, but it was – it was what we were doing. Moderator: Right. Well, I have a question from a patron. Did you find the experience of writing it and going over your life story about the bullying and everything, did you find that to be a cathartic experience? And has it allowed you to sort of let that go, or is the bullying still something that really bothers you? Rachael Scdoris: You know, I’ve – I've kind of pushed that away. I do what I can to not think about that. Sure, it was a little weird talking about it but it was – as I said, it was just what we were doing. So I did it, it's done. And, yes, when I go to talk at schools or whatever, I'll still talk about it, but I don't – I don't think of any specific memories. It's just – it's just part of my past and it's done and I don't hold any grudges against them now. They were kids, and bullies always have been, always will be. Moderator: OK. Well, we had a lot of questions about you racing as you might have heard. Rachael Scdoris: Yes. Moderator: Some of the first ones, somebody asked what happened to your ears after the frostbite incident? Have there been any results from that that have been lasting? Rachael Scdoris: No, no, not at all. I don't think my hearing is any more selective than it was back then. The skin's sloughed off. You can't see any damage now. I've since – I've since had frostbite two more times and when my hands get cold, they turn white and numb. Moderator: Oh, my. Rachael Scdoris: But other than that … Moderator: OK. OK. Somebody else asked, how can you tell when your dogs need a massage? Rachael Scdoris: I stretch them. I give them all an examination at every stop and if I feel tension in their muscle or a hot spot or if they whine, then, I know they need a massage. Also if I am close to them and I can see them walking funny that warrants a massage as well. Moderator: All right. OK. And then we have another – another patron asked: you speak so endearingly about your dogs, and when you see your dogs working together as a team, what quality of the dogs as a team is best emulated by humans who have to work together as a team? Does that make sense? Rachael Scdoris: Sort of. Yes. We are a team and every dog is an individual much like a human team. You are working together. You are working towards a common goal and you have to think of each other as a unit. But they are all individuals. And they all have their have special little personality quirks and you got to love them all as individuals. Female: Yes. Like kids, huh? Moderator: OK. Somebody had a question about your spotter, the one you used with the Iditarod. Rachael Scdoris: Yes? Moderator: If your spotter had scratched. Would that have been the end of the race for you as well, or is there a backup team? Rachael Scdoris: You know, that didn't happen. But we were – I only travelled with other people, people with simpler teams on a similar run schedule. So if it came down to it, yes, I could probably talk somebody into letting me tag along with for the rest of the race. But it's never come up. Moderator: OK. Rachael Scdoris: Actually, before the 2008 Iditarod. My friend was running the Lake 200 with me in Montana and he had back issues. And he told me at the halfway point “I don't know if I can finish this. My back is killing me.” So I told him, "OK. You go lie down. I'll take care of your dogs." which were my dogs. That was easy. Then I went to the vet and got some pain medication from a race official and it was just regular – I think it was extra strength Excedrin or something. But rumors went out about the kid in Montana that took Rimadyl. And he came up to the start of that Iditarod to see me off and I introduced him to some people and they all said, "Oh yes, you're that kid that took Rimadyl in Montana.” That was pretty funny. Female: What is Rimadyl? Rachael Scdoris: It's a dog medication. It's an anti-inflammatory for dogs. Moderator: Yes. I am very familiar with that. I had a dog that took Rimadyl. All right. Rachael Scdoris: It works. Moderator: On humans too, huh? OK. This is a good question. In relation to having dogs as working dogs and having dogs as pets, do you have any dogs that are just pets, they are not working dogs or they're working dogs … Rachael Scdoris: Our retired dogs are pets. Moderator: They are pets. Rachael Scdoris: Yes. When they are all done running, we have them take turns coming in the house one at a time so they can learn house manners. We always try to find pet homes for them when they are done. So coming in is their new training because their new job is to be a pet and we want them to make that transition to a new home as easy as possible. Moderator: So do pets get different privileges than working dogs? Like obviously going in the house is that just a pet privilege? Rachael Scdoris: Well, yes. Yes. Or if I have a sick or hurt dog, my house becomes the sick ward until they are better. But yes, other than that, it's just reserved for the retired guys and I guess some of them think of it as a privilege and honestly some of them don't like it. They are outside dogs. And so, we put that into consideration and make sure we give them to somebody that's not going to make them come inside every night. Moderator: Right. Well, are you in Kent, Oregon tonight? Rachael Scdoris: Yes. Moderator: You are. OK. Everybody was asking where you were today and, are you calling from a different place or from home? Rachael Scdoris: Calling from a friend’s. That's why I'm late. Moderator: OK. We're glad you came. Rachael Scdoris: Reception is terrible at my house. Moderator: All right. Let's see. I’ve got lots of – lots of racing questions. Here is a quick one. What is your favorite trail snack? Rachael Scdoris: My staple food is cheesecake. I have that after every checkpoint. Though in my younger years when the book was written, I was all about Snickers bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups but when I reached the ripe old age of 20, I switched over to fruit. Moderator: Alright. Rachael Scdoris: But I still stick with cheesecake at the checkpoint. Moderator: Yes. All right. Do you do any dog activities that are not racing-oriented like training or dog rescue or …? Rachael Scdoris: No. No. I have enough on my plate between the sled dog rides that we give, the racing, and training the retired dogs to be pets. What I do sometimes with the retired dogs and puppies is take them for a hike or skiing or down to the river and we'll go out in a kayak or canoe or something and we'll have them on tag race so they can get in the water if they want to or just ride in the boat. Moderator: All right. And let's see. Somebody wants to know how do you determine how many male dogs and how many female dogs you run at a time? Or is there a good ratio of males to females? Rachael Scdoris: That depends on who you ask. You ask 10 different people; you'll get 10 different answers on that one. My answer is: whoever is the best. I take whoever is the best. And my team always, every single time and I don't do this on purpose, is split right down the middle, male and female. Moderator: OK. Rachael Scdoris: And it should be worth noting that my dog-yard, and I don't plan this either, this is just how they come out, is two-thirds male and a third female. Moderator: But then when you run, it's usually half, half, huh? Rachael Scdoris: Yes. Moderator: OK. Well, somebody wanted to know: during a race do you choose different routes, or is the route pre-determined? And I guess, she said, she read you talking about the south route and the north route in the Iditarod. Is that determined? Rachael Scdoris: It is determined. Moderator: It is determined. Rachael Scdoris: The northern route is run on even years. The southern route is run on odd years. And it is a set course. Sometimes people get lost and might accidentally take a short cut or a long cut. But it's … Moderator: I guess – and that would sort of lead to the next question: how do you keep the dogs on the trail. Is it all voice command or …? Rachael Scdoris: Well, some of the most successful Iditarod racers, they were on the Yukon River and that's a half a mile wide. As long as you can see a trail marker, you're OK. And on the river, I have been blown off the trail like well off on to the banks. I actually got separated from my partner and I think we were about a mile apart. He was on the trail and my lead dogs decided to take some other crazy route. So, fortunately, it was the middle of the night so all I had to do was point them to the light of the checkpoint and we made it in. But, yes, as long – they say as long as you can say a trail marker, you're fine. And don't be too picky about that. But the lead dogs – they'll follow where they feel the best trail is and where they know other dogs have been, usually. Moderator: So, if you are turning right or something, there is no, like, "Turn right" command or …? Rachael Scdoris: Oh, sure. “Gee” means turn right, “Haw” means turn left. Moderator: Oh, ok. So now we have some, I guess, more personal questions, not so much about racing. Somebody did ask how you read the Bible, I guess, in which format? Rachael Scdoris: Large print. Moderator: Large print. OK. All right. Somebody also mentioned of all the honors you've received which we went over at the beginning of the meeting – all the honors that you've had, the awards and things that you've been nominated for – out of all of those, what has been the most meaningful for you personally? Rachael Scdoris: I don't know. The most fun was definitely Glamour Magazine. Stephen Colbert presented it to me. I got to walk the red carpet with my friend Debbie Rossum. That was great. Moderator: That would be cool. Rachael Scdoris: They are all special. They all mean something. But that was the most memorable for sure. Moderator: Right. OK. Well, do you see yourself as a role model for young women athletes? Rachael Scdoris: No, I don't. I don't. I just – I see myself out there having fun with my dogs. And I can see how I have been put in that position and that's fine. It goes with the territory. But I don't really see myself as such. No. Moderator: OK. Well, let's see. I have another question. After being bullied as a child, many people become reserved and insecure. But you were able to develop such resolve and tenacity in your project especially in the – how were you able to do this especially in the face of constant prejudice and opposition? Rachael Scdoris: I think in some respect, I did become more reserved. And for a while, I actually got really mean. In high school, I didn't get bullied because I didn’t – I didn’t seek people out to be mean to, but if people came to me, I was pretty mean. I outgrew that and just decided to be who I am. That was pretty much it. The dogs certainly helped with that. Some of my best oldest friends say that I am definitely the alpha female. So that's pretty much it. Moderator: Right. When you decide to read a book, which books do you – what types of books do you like to read yourself? Rachael Scdoris: I like… oh, man. I'll pick everything, whatever interests me, exciting, well written fiction, politics, I don’t have a type, I guess, just I give it like – I'm a slow reader so I give it like a two chapter trial period and if I like it or I'm interested in it, I finish it. If it loses me, I don't finish it. Moderator: I like that. And let me see. If you weren't racing sled dogs, and I mentioned your bike trip that you took, that little jaunt across the continent practically, what would you be doing? Rachael Scdoris: Well, if I wasn’t, I'd probably be riding horses. I am actually – I joined the national para-cycling championship last year so I am on the para-cycling team, so I wasn’t allowed on that but the dogs are always number one. Moderator: And will you be running the Iditarod in the future? Rachael Scdoris: If ever I have enough money for it again, yes, but I don't see that happening any time soon. Moderator: All right. Are you racing locally like the Wyoming race ones? Rachael Scdoris: I wish. If I ever get enough money for that again, yes. But I actually – I'm leasing dogs out to the junior mushers right now and they are doing great. So for the time being, I'm content with just giving rides and letting other people run my race dogs. Moderator: And are these the dogs that you breed yourself? Rachael Scdoris: Yes, they are. Moderator: And I did have the question about what breed of dogs that you breed? Rachael Scdoris: You had it right the first time. They are more of a type than a breed. They are called the Alaskan Huskies. Technically, they're a mutt – they're just an Indian village dog from Alaska. They love to run, they're super healthy, they’re super sweet. They're definitely not what you are thinking of. They're not Siberian Huskies, big and fluffy. They're just good, athletic dogs. Moderator: OK. All right. Let's see if the patrons – if they have any comments, that they can make some brief comments or ask you a question if they want. Does anyone want to ask something of Rachael? Female: I would love to ask a question. What happens when you scratch in a race like that, in the Iditarod. How do you get to – I mean, who picks you up? Who picks you and the dogs up? Rachael Scdoris: The Iditarod Air Force does. I'm pretty sure there's a story about that in the book but we loaded 10 dogs into a little bush plane and flew to the nearest town that had a proper airport and then I had them sent back to Anchorage and the Iditarod had me flown on to Nome. So that was really interesting. I've had to do that twice, ride in a little bush plane with about 10 dogs piled on top of each other and singing to the dogs to keep them calm and the plane took off and the dogs jumped into the pilot's lap. Female: Would you consider racing dogs a hobby or is it more like your job? Rachael Scdoris: It's a lifestyle. If racing dogs is a job that you want to make money at, take a different job, because you lose a lot more than you make. It's not a hobby because a hobby is something that you do when you feel like it, so it's a lifestyle. Female: So what do you do for a living, how do you support that wonderful hobby? Rachael Scdoris: We give fun dog rides. We give fun dog rides up Mt. Bachelor six days a week. In the winter, we do an hour-long and an all-day trek. Next year, we're actually considering doing overnight trips so people can have more of a race experience, and in the summer we do fun dog cart rides. Female: Were you on, Rachael, when we were talking about – I went to Montana for New Year's and … Rachael Scdoris: Yes, I did hear that. Female: I would not have had that experience if it were not for your book. Rachael Scdoris: I'm glad you did. Female: It was awesome and I would definitely do it again. Male: Can I ask about your eyesight? Has it changed over the years? We know that there's a lot of technology going on, you getting any better or getting any worse? Rachael Scdoris: Staying exactly the same. The only way it will – well, it won't get better and the only way it will get worse is with age. Female: Yes, that's what happened to mine. Male: Yes. There’s no new inventions on the horizon for you? Rachael Scdoris: No, but I understand there is a type of (inaudible) that will make it better, but my ophthalmologist hasn't heard of them yet and I've never tried them. So no. It is what it is. Male: Who did you write the book for? Were you writing this for young people? Because you've helped a lot of older people as well. Rachael Scdoris: You know I wrote it for anybody that wanted to read it. There is – yes, you say some stuff that appeals to young kids and we kept it age-appropriate because we figured that there would be a lot of kids reading it. But there is also some adult humor in there, if you read between the lines, some experiences adults can relate to as well. So: everybody. Female: When you are training, when you're working with a spotter, or whatever you call your visual interpreter, do you have, you know, to provide some kind of training? Rachael Scdoris: I had a visual interpreter 10 years ago, but it just sounds so politically correct so I just think of him as a partner and we just run together. Female: Do you provide any kind of training for this so that they know? Because I'm sure even an experienced musher needs to know what you need as a blind person if they're running. You know? Because it's not going to be what they need or what they imagine you need. So do you provide them with any training before the race? Rachael Scdoris: That's very true. Well, I will tell you that two of my Iditarod partners thought they were there to be my coach, and I didn't need a coach. And both of those years, I scratched. When I had Tim Agmar running with me, who just thought of it a partnership, I finished. So everybody is an individual and I communicate differently with different people but, you know, we spend a couple of months training together beforehand. We stress what works and what doesn't, not only as individuals but for our dog teams and how to work our load. Female: I've wondered, you mentioned, of course, you know, you read slow for obvious reasons. Have you tried using the cane and monocular. I find the monocular to be very useful. Do you have any other adaptive equipment like the Talking Book Program, you know … Rachael Scdoris: I actually do use the Talking Book Program and I love it. And I've warmed up to the monocular in recent years. I still don't need my cane, except when I need to play the blind card, of course. Female: I’m a cane-travel teacher so that's like my stock and trade. And I've been thinking all the way through that book, I kept thinking, oh, what I could do with an athlete like her, I can just – she’d be so terrific with a cane. Because I find my athletes, whenever I get hold of somebody that says: "Yes, I was an athlete," and I say: "OK, let's get you back to that, you know you don’t have to give it up.” And they turn out to be the best travelers, really, you know. I get their blind fold on with just a cane in their hand and the next thing I know they are running all over Austin. And since I am getting older, sometimes they run away from me. Rachael Scdoris: That will happen. Female: Since you never do anything with the cane, do you use screen readers or anything like that? Rachael Scdoris: I had a descriptive TV for a while and that was nice. And I make the print bigger on my computer when I remember to and other than that not really. Moderator: All right. We are getting towards the end here. What do you have going on right now, Rachael, that you are working on? Rachael Scdoris: Well, I'm working towards the National Para-Cycling Championships in June and that's pretty much it. That's where my focus is right now. Moderator: Are you going to write a book about your cycling? Rachael Scdoris: No. I'm not. Female: We still wish you all the luck and will be watching for you. Rachael Scdoris: Well, thank you very much. Moderator: Well, thank you so much for coming today and a patron did remind me, your birthday is coming up and we want to wish you an early happy birthday. Rachael Scdoris: Well, thank you. It's February 1st. Moderator: And we want to let everybody know we will have a February book club and a March book club. END STATE OF TEXAS - TSL - TALKING BOOK PROGRAM Moderator: Danielle Elder 01-24-13/6:47 p.m. CT Confirmation # 76193141 Page 1