Fully Launched!!!
A huge shout out to the many gorgeous humans who helped make the 'Breaking Free' Book Launch such a joyful experience!
I am so fully launched that I’m still out in space!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all these special contributors who were there that night:
Rachel Barr for the many hours of helping me to create this event and the baking and provision of the delicious nibbles!
Stu Barr for helping Rachel with the food!
Ian Harcourt and Jeremy Nelson for their hilarious performance as the Guard Dogs!
Hana Miller for her loving and masterful role as our MC!
Sean O’Brien for the creation of the music, - the tech and his lovely voice as the lead singer for our two songs!
Holly Beals, Anna Wooles and Wade Reeve for accompanying Sean so beautifully in the songs!
Benjamin Blizzard and Joseph Crawford (Mary’s sons), Sonia Frost and Stu Barr for their kind, funny and heartwarming speeches!
Stu and Rachel Barr for their outstanding generosity and support, without whom this book would not exist!
Louise Russell publisher at Bateman Books for her wonderful and insightful speech to introduce Mary and Book!
Talia Chong-Hamlin for photography and videography, website and social media design and management, and advertising!
Ryan Prebble (The Nudge, The Black Seeds, Fly My Pretties) our attending celebrity cover endorsee!
William Crawford for helping Mary’s son Joe to watch the proceedings via phone from the middle of the night in Toronto!
Amy Maclennan for Mary’s makeup!
Suni Hermon for being Mary’s minder!
Ben Blizzard for helping with set-up and take down!
Judith Palmer (Mary’s aunt) for being our guest of honour, down for Hastings!
Mary Tait-Jamieson and Edith van der Meer, also guests of honour, down from Tauranga!
Paul Cameron for his unfailing support for Mary and for storing and shipping books for sale!
Susanna Andrew and Unity Books for being on book sales!
Rahine O’Rielly, Finn Pattie and the fantastic crew at Meow !
Rieko Woodford-Robinson who’s brilliant painting ‘Platform No. 7’ adorned the book-signing table!
And to all the fabulous parents, colleagues, siblings, cousins and friends from Welly and all over Aotearoa who came, saw, shared the love and bought books!
Eternal thanks beyond words to you all!!!
Love, Mary.