Wendy Mitchell (1956–2024)

Wendy Mitchell doesn't fear anything anymore. After her diagnosis of young-onset dementia in 2014, all of Wendy's old fears - the dark, animals - melted away. What more was there to be afraid of when she faced her worst fear: losing her own mind?

While living with her diagnosis and facing the extreme changes that come along with a progressive terminal illness, Wendy wrote two Sunday Times-bestselling books, went skydiving for the first time and supports multiple dementia advocacy groups in the UK. She is known for talking about living with dementia, but now - while she is still able to - she explores dying with it.

In One Last Thing, Wendy embarks on a journey to explore all angles of death: how we can prepare for it, how we talk about it with our loved ones and how we can be empowered to make our own choices. With conversations on the topic of assisted dying, from those who are fighting to make it legal to those vehemently opposed to its practice, Wendy reminds us that to get on with the business of living, we need to talk about death.… (mehr)

Dispelling the myths and stereotypes of living with dementia, Wendy Mitchell offers a warm, wise and thoroughly practical guide to life after a life-changing diagnosis.

Wendy Mitchell spent twenty years as a non-clinical team leader in the NHS before being diagnosed with Young Onset Dementia in July 2014 at the age of fifty-eight. Shocked by the lack of awareness about the disease, both in the community and in hospitals, she vowed to spend her time raising awareness about dementia and encouraging others to see that there is life after a diagnosis. She is now an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society and in 2019 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Health by the University of Bradford for her contribution to research.… (mehr)

Citizen Canine: Dogs in the Movies by Wendy Mitchell is a fun romp through film history using films starring or costarring dogs.

This is not, nor does it pretend to be, an exhaustive or comprehensive history of dogs in film. But it is far more than just the usual dogs that get mentioned in such discussions. Rather than listing the dogs this is a list of each dog's key or most representative role. So while, for instance, Asta was best known as the dog in The Thin Man films, his role in Bringing Up Baby is what is highlighted here. As an aside, if you want something that is less attractive than this book but more into the history of film and canines, I can recommend Cinematic Canines, edited by Adrienne L McLean, which I am just finishing. Both books complement each other well but I think this book by Mitchell will satisfy what most readers want. We want to look at and remember these wonderful animals rather than study them within the context of film history. But if, like me, you enjoy doing both, there you go...

In the age of the internet and so much information at our finger tips, I think books like this are particularly helpful as well as great in their own right. There is enough information about each dog to give us the feel-goods, some tidbits that we might not have known, and of course the pictures (I love pictures of dogs, well, okay, animals in general). We can, if we want more detailed information or a comprehensive filmography, we can use this book as a guide to look up that information. To try to include 60 dogs in a book that also tried to be comprehensive about each would become unwieldy, especially if it meant more pictures.

I highly recommend this for those who like to remember past stars and films, and maybe discover new ones they may have missed. The photographs are wonderful and the text offers the right mix of facts and fun trivia.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mehr)