Author donates money to CF
When Sligo author Maureen Harkin opted to support the local Cystic Fibrosis branch at the recent launch of her short stories collection, ‘Love You Ma’, she never expected her decision would amount to €1630 from contributions per book sales and two small auctions on the night.
“I had decided to donate €5 from every book bought at the launch and expected to raise about €5-600 towards Cystic Fibrosis. What happened on the night completely bowled me over! People just kept arriving until they couldn’t get into the room. As well as the book sales we also auctioned two special copies of the book. The first was for a ‘faulty’ print. When the books arrived from the printers the very first book I opened had two blank pages between pp143/144. You can imagine my shock, language [?] and dismay as I assumed all books would be the same. Fortunately, after a frantic search of several boxes, we knew it was a once off. My husband suggested I compose a poem about the blanks and handwrite it on those pages and we’d auction it,” she revealed.
That she did and it realised €215 from a bid by Sooey native Eugene McGoldrick and the book is now in London. The second book auctioned had the signature (and some messages) of everyone who got into the room. It made €200 and was bought by John Keane, a neighbour from Cartron.
As a resident of Cartron for over thirty years, Maureen is only too familiar with the Cystic Fibrosis disease, having three neighbours whose children have succumbed to CF in the recent past.
She has a dedication in the book to Louise Cooney, Gary Dillon and Gráinne Golden. Her friend and CF campaigner, Terri Golden, spoke at the book launch and read one of the humorous poems, ‘ The Invitation’, while her daughter, Aisling Golden, designed the cover.