Harald Herrmann was sorting through his mother-in-law's belongings shortly after she died of cancer last year when he came across a treasure he hopes will save lives.
Scrawled in the woman's own hand on three notebook pages was a children's story she had written for Austin, her 9-year-old grandson.
"I got about a third of the way through it and stopped," said Herrmann, 40, Austin's dad and chief operating officer of the Irvine-based Yard House Restaurants. "I knew right then that I would put the book out."
The result is "Bowregarde: The Tale of a Little Mouse With a Big Name," by Fran Creegan, an illustrated hard-bound children's book that Herrmann paid to have printed. He hopes to sell the books for $15.95 and donate the proceeds to help people with cancer, the disease that also killed his wife.
The Yorba Linda resident said he hoped his efforts would help the search for a cure, and provide a happy ending to his tale.
It began nine years ago when Herrmann's wife, Kathie, was diagnosed with breast cancer. For eight years, he says, she fought the disease while raising their son.
"She had a spirit that sucked you in," Herrmann said. "People gravitated toward her. She had a tremendous outlook. Our motto was 'It is what it is.' We tried to never let the cancer rule our lives."
The disease spread to Kathie's brain, liver, lungs and bones. She died at home at age 39 on Jan. 12, 2004.
Through it all, Grandma Creegan, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, stood by like a rock. "She was like a second mom to Austin," Herrmann recalled. "When Kathie died, he said, 'Grandma, you need to be my mommy now.' "
Nine months later she too was dead, at age 61.
Herrmann isn't sure when Creegan wrote the story of how Bowregarde, the tiny mouse whose name was too big, met Herc, the huge hippopotamus whose name was too small. Both animals' problems are solved by a "very wise owl" they meet in the jungle.
"Perhaps [she wrote it] because, growing up, she never cared for her \o7own \f7name," Herrmann suggested.
About 8,000 copies of the book, illustrated by Costa Mesa artist Marilyn ScottWaters, are available online at www.bowregarde.com. Herrmann hopes to sell books to hospitals and by networking with cancer-related groups.
"It's a really charming story," Scott-Waters said. "I would literally finish a picture, then cry."
