Roger Jones is the author of the new novel The Final Victory, which focuses on people with cancer who compete in dragon boat racing. Also a businessman, philanthropist, and cancer survivor, he is based in South Carolina.
Q: The Final Victory is described as “a novel inspired by true events.” Can you say more about that?
A: I wrote The Final Victory (TFV) to tell the story of the 20 courageous men and women who challenged themselves to the limits of human performance. To share the power of hope, teamwork, and love.
Specifically, to honor Linda, Pat in TFV, who endured stage 4 ovarian cancer, Mark, Sean in TFV who compared cancer to winning the lottery, Brooke who represented numerous breast cancer survivors who gave courage a new definition and Bob, Thomas in TFV who paddled with a trach and feeding tube to find his final victory.
Q: How does the sport of dragon boat racing work with people facing cancer?
A: Having cancer reveals a person’s vulnerability and produces great fear. After surgery and treatments, you feel ruined. Dragon Boating enhances physical strength. The peacefulness of the water, the drum beating in time with our hearts, and the communion among the paddlers and teammates. You begin to feel you can overcome this horrible disease.
Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: My teammate, Bob Carson, a Hall of Fame Citadel running back, and Thomas Huger in The Final Victory, had jaw and neck cancer and was having difficulties attending our practices as he had a feeding tube and tracheotomy as the result of multiple surgeries.
I asked him if he felt he was physically able to be on the team. His response through a barely audible voice was, “I must be on this team as this race could be the final victory of my life.” From this comment came the title, The Final Victory.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: My prayer is that these words, as they are read, will prompt the reader to praise and celebrate their victories every day. This novel is dedicated to hope and redemption. The hope is that each of us will find mercy, grace, and peace. The redemption in discovering ourselves whole even if our bodies are frail and damaged.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I’m a featured presenter at the International Breast Cancer Dragon Boat competition in Sarasota, Florida and several pharmaceutical companies are providing the novel as a gift to Neuroendocrine Cancer patients.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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