The Alma Triffitt Book Award
The Alma Triffitt Book Award
Every year, since 2021, we are delighted to be able to gift our children and young people who are living with FOP or POH, a beautiful book. This is made possible thanks to a generous grant from Professor Jim Triffitt, in loving memory of his late wife Alma Triffitt.
A team of expert booksellers at Blackwell’s, Oxford, a long-time favourite of Jim’s, carefully hand-picks a book for each child. These are then posted to the children in June, honouring Alma’s birthday.
A beautiful, hand-painted bookplate, created by Jim’s son, Dave, graces each book, making the books truly special.
The history behind the Alma Book Award
Professor Jim Triffitt lead the original FOP research team at the University of Oxford which has been a major centre for FOP research since the mid-1970s, when he and Dr Roger Smith began their collaborative studies, searching for the gene that was responsible for FOP. Their incredible work, alongside the efforts of other highly respected international specialists, culminated in the co-discovery of the causative gene for FOP, ACVR1, in 2006.
Professor Triffitt has since retired, but with Emeritus status he still collaborates with Professor Bullock on the development of ACVR1 inhibitors. Over the years, Jim’s wife Alma supported his research and accompanied him on his research trips around the UK, Europe and the USA, meeting the families affected by FOP and taking precious time to befriend them. Alma loved the families and offered support and friendship to them on their journeys. The FOP families cherished her warmth, humour and kindness: she was just as dedicated to finding a cure for FOP as her husband. Sadly, Alma passed away in July 2018.
Alma Triffitt was born on June 5th, 1937 and passed away on July 19th 2018. Throughout her long life she understood the value of human relationships, and always took precious time to engage lovingly with everyone she met. No-one escaped her attention and she made people happier just by being herself. Even as a very young child in Chorley, Lancashire her mother said she never let anyone pass her pram without a smile and a loud ‘Hello’! From the 1970s Alma became very involved with her husband Jim’s work on FOP. She was a sympathetic and empathic presence to all the FOP patients and families she met in the U.K. and those she met when attending FOP conferences held in many European countries and in the USA.
Alma’s interests were many but included centrally a love of books and reading. She was also an accomplished artist and passed her artistic genes on to her son David, who designed and painted the frontispiece to be included in each of the proposed FOP presentation books. After initial presentation to all UK children with FOP this year, these will be donated annually in her memory to four selected FOP children, one in each of four age groups, who have shown exceptional fortitude and bravery in overcoming the challenges of FOP during that particular year.
Poetry was her specific forte and in her younger years she often recited poems and Victorian monologues with meaning to those in churches, hospitals, care homes and at social events in Chorley and surrounding areas. In addition, she had a great interest in drama and often performed as a member of the Chorley and District Amateur Dramatic Society. In the fifty-two years she lived with her family in the village of East Hanney, near Oxford she continued her performances in plays and poetry readings as well as producing and directing celebrated pantomimes in the village. So reading poetry and plays were of special interest together with all the classical novels popular in those early days. A love of all books was central throughout all the years following and whenever possible she always had two books on the go- one to read in bed before going to sleep and one to read during the day, preferably sat outside in the sunshine. She particularly enjoyed reading autobiographies and historical novels, such as those by Edward Rutherford, but was an avid reader of all literature.
She took great care when opening a new book and always made sure she “Thumbed” the book before starting to read. Alma called it “Thumbing”, as taught by her elder sister, as she used her thumb to gently press down near the spine of the book as the method described was used to gradually open the book. This is especially good for preservation of hard back books as it stops the spine breaking and also makes it easier to open the book for more comfortable reading. For your interest, we have included a set of instructions of how books used to be ‘thumbed’.
Alma was a lady who always left her unique mark wherever she went. A well-known phrase of hers was ‘You only get out of life what you put into it’. She certainly put her heart and soul into every aspect of her life, including reading books, and she would urge everyone to enjoy every minute of theirs – as she always did! She would want all the children to enjoy reading as much as she did and, by being transported into realms and adventures beyond everyday events, experience the joys of learning of other worlds and life experiences. It is hoped that the annual Alma Triffitt FOP Award will go some way in accomplishing this aim and be enjoyed by all future recipients.
We hope you will treasure these book and that they bring you much joy when reading, both now and in the future.
