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Echoes of a Summer is a 1976 Canadian-American family drama film directed by Don Taylor, based on the play Isle of Children by Robert L. Joseph, who also adapted the screenplay. It stars Jodie Foster, Richard Harris, Lois Nettleton, Brad Savage, and Geraldine Fitzgerald. The film follows; Deirdre Striden (Foster), a perceptive 11-year-old girl with an incurable heart ailment. Her mother, Ruth (Nettleton), wants to continue to take her to new doctors, although she knows that treatment is futile. Her father, Eugene (Harris), thinks she should be at their lake house, living in denial of her condition. It is only through her friendship with her 9-year-old neighbor, Philip (Savage), that Deirdre is able to honestly face the reality of death.