Jeff’s jolly book about disease proving popular (From Worcester News)

Jeff’s jolly book about disease proving popular

9:50pm Wednesday 8th August 2012 in News By Freya Leng

A WORCESTER man has penned a book about his experiences of living with a debilitating brain disease.

Jeff Wallis, of Warndon Villages, Worcester, has Parkinson’s disease.

He has written and published Jeff’s Jolly Jamboree Bag, a quirky outlook on life based on his experiences.

About £1,400 has already been raised towards research into trying to cure the disease from half of the proceeds from the sale of the books, which were printed by Rotary Printers in Stourport.

Mr Wallis has donated the rest of the cash to St Richard’s Hospice book shop in Reindeer Court, Worcester. The 59-year-old said his novella, running to 32 pages, is proving popular – especially his guide to eating sherbet lemons.

In the book, the eater of sherbet lemons is guided to “put the sweet into your mouth...suck rhythmically and vigorously until one of the two ends has a very small hole in it. Concentrate on that hole and enjoy the fizzy flow of sherbet.”

There are also some tales from the towpath, based on Mr Wallis' time fishing along Worcester canal, along with some poetry.

The author, who was diagnosed with the disease 10 years ago, said he wanted to show his appreciation for the support he received from St Richard’s Hospice.

“I wanted to give something back to the hospice for the help they have given me and to so many others,” he said.

“It was something that’s been on my mind for a long time. People have loved it, it’s very nostalgic in places. You don’t have to have any knowledge about Parkinson’s to enjoy it.”

Mr Wallis will be signing copies of his book at the bookshop on Saturday from 10am.