Read more
When Susan MacLeod accompanied her 90-year-old mother through a labyrinthine long-term care system, it was a nine-year journey navigating a government within a heart in a system without compassion.Her family, much like the system, erected walls rather than opening arms. She found herself involuntarily placed at the pivot point between her frail, elderly mother's need for love and companionship, the system's inability to deliver, and her brother's indifference. She had also spent three years as a government spokesperson enthusiastically defending the very system she now experienced as brutally cold.
MacLeod's tone is defined by a gentle, self-effacing humour touched by exasperation for the absurdities and the newfound wisdom around expectations.
Dying for Attention is the latest memoir in the graphic medicine field, shelved alongside
My Begging Chart by Keiler Roberts and
Tangles by Sarah Leavitt. MacLeod includes helpful tips for communicating with nursing homes, as well as background research, to provide a larger context for this under-discussed experience.
About the author
Susan MacLeod is an artist writing about the world of long-term care. Her illustrations have been published by Kaiser Permanente, Halifax Magazine, and the Globe & Mail, as well as for countless commissions. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from NSCAD University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Non-Fiction from the University of King's College. She still misses her mother.
Summary
When Susan MacLeod accompanied her 90-year-old mother through a labyrinthine long-term care system, it was a nine-year journey navigating a government within a heart in a system without compassion.
Her family, much like the system, erected walls rather than opening arms. She found herself involuntarily placed at the pivot point between her frail, elderly mother's need for love and companionship, the system's inability to deliver, and her brother's indifference. She had also spent three years as a government spokesperson enthusiastically defending the very system she now experienced as brutally cold.
MacLeod's tone is defined by a gentle, self-effacing humour touched by exasperation for the absurdities and the newfound wisdom around expectations. Dying for Attention is the latest memoir in the graphic medicine field, shelved alongside My Begging Chart by Keiler Roberts and Tangles by Sarah Leavitt. MacLeod includes helpful tips for communicating with nursing homes, as well as background research, to provide a larger context for this under-discussed experience.
Foreword
Social media campaign, book launch (virtual or in-person), author tour including festival appearances (if permitted), media outreach
Additional text
"[In Dying for Attention], Susan tells the story of her mother’s journey into long-term care. But it’s more than that - it’s really a family story, and there are so many questions and tensions, and Susan edges her way towards answers and reconciliation. She never quite finds them, but the journey is the story... It’s funny, it’s heartfelt, it’s sad, it’s honest and oh so real. I couldn’t put it down." — Graham Steele, The Effective Citizen
"MacLeod’s book offers insights into the search for wellness in general through self-discovery and an appreciation of what it takes to live a worthwhile life." — Comics Grinder
