Before I Forget

by Fiona Phillips (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2010

  $3.39

  Fiona Phillips is one of the best-loved presenters on television. Well-known for being warm, chatty and very down to earth, she went to the local comprehensive in Canterbury before studying English at Birmingham University. For over twelve years she presented GMTV, during which time she interviewed some of the most famous and influential people on the planet. But in September 2008 Fiona announced that she was to quit the programme, revealing that her father, Phil, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, two years after her mother had died of the same disease. 'Alzheimer's has had a huge impact on my life,' says Fiona, 48. 'It has been devastating, and it partly informed my decision to give up GMTV.' When she left her job she was offered a number of book deals, but this project alone appealed to her. The book will be a frank and open account of caring for her parents, and will hopefully act as a rallying point for the hundreds of thousands of people who find themselves in the same horrible situation. The book isn't all sadness, however, and like most trials in life there are lots of lighter moments.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2010

  $3.39

  Fiona Phillips is one of our best-loved television presenters. Well-known for being warm, chatty and down to earth, she attended her local comprehensive in Southampton before studying English in Birmingham. For over twelve years she presented GMTV, during which time she interviewed some of the most famous and influential people on the planet, from film stars to royalty, politicians to local heroes. But in August 2008 Fiona announced that she was to quit the job she loved, revealing that her father, Phil, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's just a year after her mother had died of the same disease and that she had decided to devote more time to him and to her family. Before I Forget is a wonderfully honest account of growing up in the 1960s and 70s within a complex family. During her childhood her father could sometimes be distant and demanding which both saddened her and drove her to succeed, her mother always the devoted wife and the steady heart of the family. When Fiona lands the job at GMTV she revels in how proud they are of her achievement. When her mother and then her father succumb to Alzheimer's we share in Fiona's sadness as she movingly describes watching them fade away, one moment interviewing George Clooney the next taking a call from Pembrokeshire Social Services to say that her mother had wandered away from her care home. Before I Forget is an extraordinary book which will resonate with Fiona's millions of fans and the millions of people who day-by-day are going through, or have gone through, the same experiences.