On a cold, rainy night we held our last FOBL event for 2021 in Balmain Town Hall. An enthusiastic FOBL audience welcomed award winning science reporter, Jonica Newby, and her partner, Robyn Williams, beloved ABC science journalist and reporter, to talk to us about her book “Beyond Climate Change”.

In a fascinating discussion Jonica explained why she wrote her revealing and moving memoir, her response to climate change which plummeted her into despair and how she had used her research and journalism skills to deal with her grief. She talked of her family caught up in the bush fires in Mallacoota – the reality of climate change striking too close to home. She and Robyn discussed what we can do to mitigate our impacts on climate change, and she have ways in which to continue to have hope. Hers is a quiet but insistent call to action.

The many questions afterwards revealed the depth of interest in Jonica’s talk, as did the sales of her book and other related books about climate change. Our thanks to Hill of Content for their continuing support for our events.

That this was our fourth event of the year in 2021, such a fractured year, was nothing short of a miracle. It was a credit to the FOBL committee as we work to support Balmain Library.

We look forward to seeing you at our first event of 2022 as we welcome Debra Oswald, award winning writer of books (most recently, The Family Doctor), plays and much loved TV series (The Secret Lives of Us, Offspring) and more. Save the date – Friday May 6th.