Borrowing her intriguing title from Thomas Merton, Donna Thomson's first book: The Four Walls of My Freedom will be available in book stores on Friday September 17th.
Donna and her husband are dear friends. We met in Ottawa where Donna was part of creating a PLAN affiliate group, Lifetime Networks Ottawa.
Donna, Jim and son Nicholas currently live in London – their daughter is attending university in Canada. The book is the story of an extraordinary family. But so much more. It is a sober, thoughtful articulate, philosophical reflection on the meaning of disability, of 'woman's work', person-hood and loving care. For those who have read my posts on natural care-giving, you'll recognize Donna as the person who introduced me to Eva Kittay's work and to the importance of understanding the concept of dependency.
Donna wouldn't be so bold but I predict this book will stand shoulder to shoulder with Ian Brown's book, The Boy and the Moon. Together they will help to reinvent the disability family movement for the changing times we live in.
I will review the book in a future post. To whet your appetite have a quick read of the following articles:
Elizabeth Renzetti's column in the Globe and Mail.
And Geraldine Bedell's, My Life as a Carer by a Diplomat's Wife
Download My life as a carer in the Times of London and in the electronic magazine, Age Bomb.
And stay tuned to a feature in Chatelaine magazine.
NOTES:
1) For Toronto residents Donna will appear at the International Festival of Writers on October 23rd with PLAN patron, John Ralston Saul who wrote the Foreword for her book.
2) Nicholas' story is profiled in a new Ontario edition of my book, Safe and Secure which can be obtained from PLAN Toronto.
3) Donna and Eva Kittay will appear together in June 2011 at the conference on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology.
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