New books with bite
http://www.bendigoweekly.com/articles/6395/1/New-books-with-bite/Page1.html
By Lauren Mitchell - Bendigo Life
Published on 05/8/2008
There’s a quote I read somewhere which says “a good book is like a conversation with an old friend”.
There’s a quote I read somewhere which says “a good book is like a conversation with an old friend”.
"Books" of the living library
By LAUREN MITCHELL
There’s a quote I read somewhere which says “a good book is like a conversation with an old friend”.
Perhaps that’s because there’s no small talk. Books get straight to the heart of it; the good ones suck you in with the first paragraph.
It will be no different when borrowing from the Bendigo Library’s Living Library collection.
The “books” walk, they talk, and yes, they may bite.
Twelve local people have volunteered themselves to be living books; to offer themselves up for a half-hour conversation with whoever wishes to “read” them.
And so here lies the blurb of two of the books that will settle on the shelf from next month.
Well prepared
Helen Walton’s story started off meticulously planned, and then as sometimes happens with stories, it took its own tangent.
As a gay woman undergoing IVF treatment, Helen had prepared well for the pregnancy, even had to move from her home to South Australia to legally have her daughter.
But what Helen hadn’t planned for was the overwhelming feeling she’d have to want to make her baby’s home a better place.
And that means Bendigo.
“This is where I’m going to raise my baby,” Helen said.
“When you have a child you want the best for them. You become a lot more community minded and you worry about everything.”
Helen was quick to volunteer to be a living book, seeing it as a great opportunity for the community to learn about all of its members.
“What I want most is for people to know that as parents, regardless of background, we all want security for our children, a safe environment and something to hand down to them, it doesn’t matter what race or sexuality we are or where we come from,” she said.
Helen said she had mixed reactions from the Bendigo community in relation to being a gay parent.
“Just the lack of support for exclusively gay parents here, that’s a big problem.
“You can go along to play group and that’s great but sometimes issues come up that only other gay people could understand.
“If you go out of Bendigo you have a better chance of finding that support.”
She said in the nine months since her daughter was born, there had been some negativity from others.
“You get looked at funny when people know you have a child.
“Once I was in the mall, talking to a friend of mine about being gay.
“A woman who overheard me came up and told me I was a bad parent.
“I didn’t have my daughter with me thankfully, but one day I will, and that’s why I’m doing this.
“I want to open Bendigo’s eyes a little.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Bendigo to get behind something that just increases tolerance of others.”
Helen encourages anyone to “borrow” her for half an hour, and is prepared for all possible questions.
“I’m not putting any expectations out there, I’d just encourage anyone to come and talk to me,” she said.
“I’m bracing myself for negativity.
“I’ll listen to those people and if they’re coming from a place of fear I’ll try to educate them.”
And if there’s any other gay parents out there, Helen is keen to meet them. If by change they’re not library people, Helen encourages them to contact Loddon Mallee Women’s Health to hopefully establish a network of people.
“I know there’s other gay parents out there, I just can’t find them,” she said.
Borrowing Helen is an awesome opportunity to find out about being a gay parent, or even advice on what to do when your nine month old has a cold, as she currently does.
And then there’s the whole IVF experience.
“That was harrowing,” Helen said.
“It was a lot harder than I expected it to be but the up shot is I have a beautiful little girl who is just enchanting.”
Sub head here
There’s many chapters to Kerrin Shortis’ story and everyone of them would be a page turner.
Choose from her life as a female jockey, surviving an horrific horse riding accident and the rehabilitation that followed, pushing life to the limits when trying to discover who she was and lastly, learning to live life with an acquired brain injury.
“I wouldn’t have thought that my part in this world would be historically good for a living book,” Kerrin said
“But I’ve had so many people say that I should be doing it.
“The main thing I’m hoping to do is raise awareness of people with a brain injury.”
Kerrin is used to speaking out on behalf of the many ABI sufferers who can’t, taking any public speaking engagement that comes her way.
“I want people to know that in 50 per cent of cases it results in physical disability but in the other 50 per cent it’s emotional,” she said.
“So many of us who have a brain injury have a different way of using our emotions - even those people who can’t speak.
“For those who can’t speak, there’s still a form of emotion or storytelling through their screeches.”
She said while most people are aware of health issues, such as cancer, and the risks associated, most aren’t aware of how a brain injury can happen and the rehabilitation that people endure afterwards.
“There’s no achievement to get to walk again, but how many people have to do that? Most only once.
“If you get a deep scare it heals, but the scare is always there and that’s what a brain injury is like.
“Most of us who have a brain injury live in some sort of entrapment and that’s what I’m trying to raise awareness of.”
Kerrin is matter-of-fact about her life. Perhaps that’s because she’s already endured years of self-doubt, questioning and searching to accept her fate.
And now it’s other people’s turn to ask the questions
“They can ask me the most personal question if they want and I’ll answer it, whether they’ll get embarrassed because I’ll answer it, I don’t know.
“I will talk about the blunt truth because I think the blunt truth is the most important side.
“There will probably be moments when my voice will go croaky and a couple of tears will drop, but I’ll still answer their questions.
“It will be intriguing, whether young people will borrow me or old people will borrow me, whether they’re highly intelligent people or people from different cultures.
“I’m looking forward to the questions. Nothing frightens me.”
The Living Library will be launched on Friday, May 23 from 3pm at the library and the “books” will be available to borrow from Friday, June 6.
There’s a quote I read somewhere which says “a good book is like a conversation with an old friend”.
Perhaps that’s because there’s no small talk. Books get straight to the heart of it; the good ones suck you in with the first paragraph.
It will be no different when borrowing from the Bendigo Library’s Living Library collection.
The “books” walk, they talk, and yes, they may bite.
Twelve local people have volunteered themselves to be living books; to offer themselves up for a half-hour conversation with whoever wishes to “read” them.
And so here lies the blurb of two of the books that will settle on the shelf from next month.
Well prepared
Helen Walton’s story started off meticulously planned, and then as sometimes happens with stories, it took its own tangent.
As a gay woman undergoing IVF treatment, Helen had prepared well for the pregnancy, even had to move from her home to South Australia to legally have her daughter.
But what Helen hadn’t planned for was the overwhelming feeling she’d have to want to make her baby’s home a better place.
And that means Bendigo.
“This is where I’m going to raise my baby,” Helen said.
“When you have a child you want the best for them. You become a lot more community minded and you worry about everything.”
Helen was quick to volunteer to be a living book, seeing it as a great opportunity for the community to learn about all of its members.
“What I want most is for people to know that as parents, regardless of background, we all want security for our children, a safe environment and something to hand down to them, it doesn’t matter what race or sexuality we are or where we come from,” she said.
Helen said she had mixed reactions from the Bendigo community in relation to being a gay parent.
“Just the lack of support for exclusively gay parents here, that’s a big problem.
“You can go along to play group and that’s great but sometimes issues come up that only other gay people could understand.
“If you go out of Bendigo you have a better chance of finding that support.”
She said in the nine months since her daughter was born, there had been some negativity from others.
“You get looked at funny when people know you have a child.
“Once I was in the mall, talking to a friend of mine about being gay.
“A woman who overheard me came up and told me I was a bad parent.
“I didn’t have my daughter with me thankfully, but one day I will, and that’s why I’m doing this.
“I want to open Bendigo’s eyes a little.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Bendigo to get behind something that just increases tolerance of others.”
Helen encourages anyone to “borrow” her for half an hour, and is prepared for all possible questions.
“I’m not putting any expectations out there, I’d just encourage anyone to come and talk to me,” she said.
“I’m bracing myself for negativity.
“I’ll listen to those people and if they’re coming from a place of fear I’ll try to educate them.”
And if there’s any other gay parents out there, Helen is keen to meet them. If by change they’re not library people, Helen encourages them to contact Loddon Mallee Women’s Health to hopefully establish a network of people.
“I know there’s other gay parents out there, I just can’t find them,” she said.
Borrowing Helen is an awesome opportunity to find out about being a gay parent, or even advice on what to do when your nine month old has a cold, as she currently does.
And then there’s the whole IVF experience.
“That was harrowing,” Helen said.
“It was a lot harder than I expected it to be but the up shot is I have a beautiful little girl who is just enchanting.”
Sub head here
There’s many chapters to Kerrin Shortis’ story and everyone of them would be a page turner.
Choose from her life as a female jockey, surviving an horrific horse riding accident and the rehabilitation that followed, pushing life to the limits when trying to discover who she was and lastly, learning to live life with an acquired brain injury.
“I wouldn’t have thought that my part in this world would be historically good for a living book,” Kerrin said
“But I’ve had so many people say that I should be doing it.
“The main thing I’m hoping to do is raise awareness of people with a brain injury.”
Kerrin is used to speaking out on behalf of the many ABI sufferers who can’t, taking any public speaking engagement that comes her way.
“I want people to know that in 50 per cent of cases it results in physical disability but in the other 50 per cent it’s emotional,” she said.
“So many of us who have a brain injury have a different way of using our emotions - even those people who can’t speak.
“For those who can’t speak, there’s still a form of emotion or storytelling through their screeches.”
She said while most people are aware of health issues, such as cancer, and the risks associated, most aren’t aware of how a brain injury can happen and the rehabilitation that people endure afterwards.
“There’s no achievement to get to walk again, but how many people have to do that? Most only once.
“If you get a deep scare it heals, but the scare is always there and that’s what a brain injury is like.
“Most of us who have a brain injury live in some sort of entrapment and that’s what I’m trying to raise awareness of.”
Kerrin is matter-of-fact about her life. Perhaps that’s because she’s already endured years of self-doubt, questioning and searching to accept her fate.
And now it’s other people’s turn to ask the questions
“They can ask me the most personal question if they want and I’ll answer it, whether they’ll get embarrassed because I’ll answer it, I don’t know.
“I will talk about the blunt truth because I think the blunt truth is the most important side.
“There will probably be moments when my voice will go croaky and a couple of tears will drop, but I’ll still answer their questions.
“It will be intriguing, whether young people will borrow me or old people will borrow me, whether they’re highly intelligent people or people from different cultures.
“I’m looking forward to the questions. Nothing frightens me.”
The Living Library will be launched on Friday, May 23 from 3pm at the library and the “books” will be available to borrow from Friday, June 6.