Bookstore CEO's Daughter Is Down Syndrome Advocate

Here's something to think about the next time you walk into one of those monster-mega-bookstores: Did you know that Steve Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble, has a daughter with Down syndrome? Her name is Melissa, she's 18, and she's made it a mission to show others that people with Down syndrome are not so different and can lead normal lives.

To that end, she's giving talks in Barnes & Noble stores; has a Web site with photos and a personal message; gives interviews like this one on National Geographic Kids; and wrote a song with singer Rachel Fuller that you can listen to on the National Down Syndrome Society site.

Among the lyrics to that song, "The Ring," are: "I'm in the Ring outside/I'm following my belief/I'm looking at the sky/I saw God following my heart/I'm an ordinary woman." She sounds like a pretty extraordinary woman, actually.

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