REPLAY: Peter Berry and Deb Bunt Untangle How to Live Well With Dementia
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This podcast is a replay of one that appeared last year with our friends Peter Berry and Deb Bunt. They’ve written a new book, a volume of poetry, musings, that Peter sent to Deb via text messages at the end of long days living with dementia. She transcribed his words and lovingly put them in a book called Walk With Me: Musings Through The Dementia Fog. Its pages are exquisitely illustrated with the work of Daniel Ruffles, a talented friend and photographer who captures the beauty of the Suffolk landscape and coastal areas where Peter and Deb live. In celebration of this vital new addition to dementia literature, we’re replaying their podcast interview. After the podcast, you can read more about the book on our website, AlzAuthors.com. Enjoy!
About Peter and Deb
Peter Berry was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 50 and took an early retirement from his job working in the family’s timber business. After the devastating diagnosis, he became depressed but, being a ‘glass half full’ personality, battled through his depression and focused on his lifelong passion for cycling. He has used this passion to raise awareness of the condition, particularly in younger people.
Peter’s whole philosophy is to live well with dementia and to inspire others to do the same. He maintains an active lifestyle due to his love of cycling, which keeps him fit both below and above the eyebrows, he says. He rides a penny farthing, a single speed bike, a road bike, and a 1950’s Claud Butler, although not all at the same time – he’s good, but not that good, he jokes.
Along with his friend Deb Bunt, Peter cycles nearly every day. Their travels throughout Suffolk, England have led them to have many serious heart-to-hearts about his disease, which Deb put together in a book called Slow Puncture: Living Well with Dementia.
“It’s a book about me,” Peter says, “but a book I have never read and never will read as my short-term memory means I have forgotten the previous sentence as soon as I have started a new one.”
In this episode we discuss the difficulties encountered with a dementia diagnosis at age 50, the financial pressures he’s had to overcome, and how cycling has made life with COVID tolerable.
Read their AlzAuthors Posts:
Peter Berry Who Lives with Dementia Shares His Poetry in: Walk With Me, Compiled by Deb Bunt
Slow Puncture: a Memoir About Living Well with Early Onset Alzheimer’s by Peter Berry and Deb Bunt
So Much To Say: Peter Berry Tells His Story While He Can
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Purchase Walk With Me: Musings Through The Dementia Fog on Amazon
Purchase Slow Puncture: Living Well with Dementia on Amazon
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Peter and Deb
Facebook: Deb
Facebook: Peter
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
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Thank you for listening.
