YPWD gets all literary

YPWD provided free tickets for Henley Literary Festival this year.

A group of us headed off to the Henley Literary Festival on the 30 September to hear about the life of Steph Booth, based on her recently published book “Married to Alzheimer’s”.

We met in the grand Town Hall building in the centre of Henley.

Steph was married for two decades to the actor Tony Booth, most famous for his role in “Till Death Do Us Part” and as father-in-law to Tony Blair.  Steph spoke poignantly and candidly about her adjustment to becoming a carer. There is always so much to learn from hearing other people’s stories.

Afterwards we found a lovely little coffee shop “Berries” in Henley and had the very necessary coffee and cake.

Our next book recommendation is:

“Dear Alzheimer’s: A Diary of Living with Dementia" by Keith Oliver

Keith’s book gives an account of the challenges to live as active life as possible after his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s at the age of 55. Each chapter ends with a letter entitled “Dear Dementia”.

Here is one extract from one of his letters:

“Dear Dementia. . .  I know you encourage apathy, and then use this as a weapon to bring about decline. I will contest this with you through remaining busy, active, engaged and involved in projects and challenges I have enjoyed for some time alongside new ones”.

There are copies of “Married to Alzheimer’s” and “Dear Alzheimer’s: A Diary of Living with Dementia” in the YPWD library at the charity offices.