Rechovot, Israel - A former Cleveland resident and a mother of two has come up with a unique inspiration for children who are stricken with cancer: a comic book novel that combines her own experiences with the disease with elements of Kabala.
The idea for the book, titled Nistar, came to 37 year old Rechovot resident Shira Frimer after losing her husband Yaakov to cancer over thirteen years ago. It has taken her ten years to fully develop the complex story which involves a superhero who offers hope and encouragement, using kabalistic themes, to children with cancer.
Mrs. Frimer and her soon to be husband got engaged at nineteen and just months later Yaakov Frimer was diagnosed with cancer after complaining about pain in his knee.
“It took four months to get a diagnosis, but it was bad news, the worst new you can get,” Mrs. Frimer told VIN News. “Everything we thought our life would be was not happening.”
Because of his age, Yaakov Frimer was placed in the pediatric oncology ward where he quickly discovered had a knack for interfacing with the other patients.
“He was just a big kid in the pediatric ward,” said Mrs. Frimer. “He was really funny, charismatic, a magical guy who was super friendly and connected with everyone. He had a teacher in him, it was part of his personality and he used himself as an example to the kids, alleviating their concerns about medical procedures they were facing that he had already undergone.”
Yaakov Frimer’s battle with bone cancer lasted for five years. When he died at age 24, he left his wife a young widow with two year old twin boys. Mrs. Frimer found that developing the story was therapeutic and a way of closing the devastating circle of events that had become her life.
“I was inspired just by watching him,” recalled Mrs. Frimer. “Yaakov took on the identity of big brother to the kids on the ward. I realized that taking those experiences and transforming them into something else could help people. I would lie awake in bed and thoughts of the book I wanted to create would keep my mind busy as I was busy trying to figure out how to make all the pieces fit. All these years later, Nistar is kind of his legacy.”
Nistar, which is aimed at children ages eight and up, is 104 pages long with full color artwork by Josef Rubenstein who has done illustrations for both DC and Marvel comics. The graphic novel is replete with many themes of light and darkness and one of the strongest messages in Nistar is that the most powerful light is hidden in the darkest of darkness, in an effort to provide a beacon of hope to children who are dealing with life threatening situations. The hero of the book, JJ Barak, is loosely based on Yaakov Frimer, even sharing his first two initials.
“In addition to wanting to write a book for children who were faced with cancer, one of the reasons I wrote Nistar was because I wanted my sons to realize what kind of person their father was,” explained Mrs. Frimer. “It is also an important lesson for them to see that their mom has created something from this tragedy.”
Mrs. Frimer, an art therapist, felt strongly that using a graphic novel was an especially powerful medium for reaching children and an ideal vehicle for giving children with cancer the message that as they fight their illness, each of them is a superhero.
In order to raise money to complete the book’s artwork, Mrs. Frimer began a campaign to raise $15,000 on Indiegogo, a crowd-funding website, where donations quickly exceeded her expectations. She raised $10,000 in the first three days of the campaign and after surpassing her goal just days later, Mrs. Frimer set a new target of $25,000, with which she hopes to print 5,000 copies of Nistar and distribute them free of charge.
To date, over 170 people have contributed to the Indiegogo campaign and Mrs. Frimer has already raised more than $19,000, with over two weeks left in her fundraising efforts. According to Mrs. Frimer she already has both organizations and parents of sick children waiting for the first printing of Nistar to come off the presses.
“This isn’t a business for me and I am not looking to make money here,” explained Mrs. Frimer. “I just want to get this book into the hands of children with cancer.”
