Pat Simmons & Jane Turner - Double Launch

Name: Pat Simmons & Jane Turner - Double Launch
Start: 2026-03-21T18:30:00+11:00
End: 2026-03-21T18:30:00+11:00
Location: Upstairs at Gleebooks

About

6pm for 6:30pm Saturday 21st March

Pat Simmons and Jane Turner celebrate the launch of Still a Bit Wonky and Things to Worry About. Hosted by Jaslyn Hall.

"Still a Bit Wonky" is an extraordinary record of one man's experience of living with dementia. Jack Irving Edwardes is the man in question. Material ranging from his lotto numbers to tender notes about his beloved wife Babs are embedded in Jack's diary entries that are all illustrated in one way or another. Heartbreaking and heart-warming in equal measure, the pages in this book offer a rare, uplifting view of dementia. This is one where joy, connection and love remain - even in a mind in decline.

"Things to Worry About" has a sting in its tail because it forces us to delve into what makes us tick and uproot the uncomfortable truth of our own complicity in minimising our ability to be well. While not downplaying how devastating being diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease is, the author has found a side of herself she didn't know existed. That side is the one that is open to the state called 'presence'.

Pat Simmons is a writer of poetry, short stories, flash fiction and children’s picture books. Her poetry has been published in children’s literary magazines and has won awards in the UK and Australia. Her novel “Still a Bit Wonky” is a passion project she took on to honour the legacy her father left in the seven diaries he wrote in every day after being diagnosed with dementia, to a few months before he died. This book is an invaluable insight into the experience of someone living with dementia.

Jane Turner is the author of six books including the best selling “Mindset for Authors: How to overcome perfectionism, procrastination and self doubt” and "THE RIPPLE EFFECT: How to write a book that changes lives”. She is a much loved author coach and independent publisher who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Her sixth book “Things to Worry About," was inspired by an unexpected consequence of living with early onset Alzheimer's Disease.