Tuesday night I was honoured by Australian journalist and commentator Anne Summers, who launched my book, The Young Widow’s Book of Home Improvement, in front of more than 120 people at my local bookshop, Shearer’s on Norton Street, Leichhardt.
Anne spoke with insight and compassion and intelligence. What an impressive public speaker she is. I had wondered what to say other than some important thank-yous, because I felt I’d already written everything I wanted to say in public, in the book. But standing in front of that audience, made up of friends and colleagues from so many different parts of my life, I was physically affected by the level of support for me in that room, and I will never forget it.
UQP informs me that a 1:3 ratio of sales to attendance is typical. Barbara Horgan, Shearer’s owner, had to take books from the window display to satisfy demand, which turned out to be more like 1:1. Thank you to everyone who attended.
