Following on from her 2014 bestseller, You’re Still Hot to Me, a treatise on menopause, Comedian Jean Kittson once again proves that she is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with another of society’s semi-taboo topics in We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad.
Dealing with ageing, sick and dying parents is a tough and emotional task – many of us are doing it right now.
In Australia, the current generation of the elderly is living well into their eighties and nineties, requiring a level of care and attention from the generation below that is unprecedented in human history.
Kittson, who has faced many dilemmas caring for her own 90-something parents, saw the need for clear and compassionate information, so wrote a book to help guide us.
In We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad, Jean provides scrupulously researched advice on many common issues faced when dealing with ageing parents, while using her razor-sharp wit as a tool to take the edge off difficult topics, such as:
- Living arrangements – retirement home, nursing home, granny flat;
- Living wills and other legalities;
- Medical emergencies;
- Avoiding family fault lines while discussing with siblings; and
- Staying sane and polite while trying to understand government benefits.
Not afraid to discuss life’s most confronting questions, Jean shares her own family stories, and those of friends, which are illustrated with cartoons from her husband and much-loved Australian cartoonist, Patrick Cook.
Jean Kittson is one of Australia’s best known and most popular comedians and personalities. A multi-talented performer and writer, Jean tackles difficult topics with candid wit and humour. Well known for her comedy debates for the ABC, Channel 9 and Channel Ten, Jean has been a regular columnist with NW, the Sunday Telegraph and the Sydney Morning. On radio, Jean has been a writer and performer with Sydney’s 2DAY FM, a regular guest on ABC’s 702 with Richard Glover and a breakfast presenter with MIX 106.5.
We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad is published by Pan Macmillan Australia and available from all leading book retailers including Dymocks.
Image: We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad – courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia