From left, Julie King, director of Hedges Library, sophomore Carter Smith, Camron Wright and junior Abby Freeman
Camron Wright, award-winning author of Letters for Emily and this year's Baylor Upper School required summer reading book, The Rent Collector, made a visit to the Baylor campus Monday and Tuesday.
The Rent Collector tells the story of Ki Lim and Sang Ly and their daily battle for survival at Stung Meanchey, the largest municipal waste dump in all of Cambodia. They make their living scavenging recyclables from the trash. Life would be hard enough without the worry for their chronically ill child, Nisay, and the added expense of medicines that are not working. Just when things seem worst, Sang Ly learns a secret about the ill-tempered rent collector who comes demanding money--a secret that sets in motion a tide that will change the life of everyone it sweeps past. The Rent Collector is a story of hope, of one woman's journey to save her son and another woman's chance at redemption. It demonstrates that even in a dump in Cambodia--perhaps especially in a dump in Cambodia--everyone deserves a second chance.
Mr. Wright spoke at both Upper School and Middle School chapel programs on Monday, met with four English classes, and had casual conversation with students and faculty during his visit.