A book launch

This evening S and I went to a book launch, here at the Cross Street Market just down from K Road. One of the others in the first of her two poetry support groups has been writing a novel for a while now, and it has just been published by a Wellington based publisher who supports New Zealand fiction. A great achievement, and a very personal triumph as she constructed her story from being the child of a Holocaust survivor. 

The book launch took place in hat once was a warehouse behind the stores on K Road, and now is a market for preloved items of a multifarious nature. The extra was taken before it became totally crowded. 

Coincidentally, one of the other guests at the launch was a young man (well, younger than me) who worked with me as a junior many years ago, and was one of those whose empathy and understanding offered him a great career as a psychiatrist. Sadly for the mentally ill, he took his skills into intensive care medicine where he combine his ability with people and their soul, with skill in emergency medical care when the stakes are always high. He also took seriously the role of a professional to train and care for the coming generations, and to see beyond the immediate single patient to the needs of the many. For some years he worked part time in the Ministry of Health in Wellington. Regret that the mentally ill did not have his care, is tempered by the knowledge of what he has achieved on the path he has followed, and still continues along.

The mural above the windows was painted by Askew One (also known as Elliot O'Donnell). He is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist from what has been called the capital of the South Pacific (Auckland). He began painting walls in the early 1990s as part of the city's graffiti scene, and has developed into an internationally known street artist.