By Meryl Brown Tobin
Book launch of Not Mentioning Any Names by Margaret Pearce
In late March one of The Society of Women Writers’ most prolific and most published writers, Margaret Pearce finally saw the launch of her 87th book, Not Mentioning Any Names.
Though Ginninderra Press published the book in December 2020, the launch was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and other reasons. Those present at the launch included children, grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, Tilly, aged two and Freddie, aged one. The exploits of some of those present were featured in the book.
Leonie McDonald, Margaret’s older daughter, said, “Some of the stories in the book were supposed to be banned from inclusion.”
In Not Mentioning Any Names, an honest book about mothering children, Margaret Pearce states “Life with children is composed of confrontations, truces, compromises and intermittent battles.”
After an early confrontation with one of her children, Margaret Pearce wrote it up as an article under the heading ‘Another Day, Another Battle’ and it was published. Subsequently, she wrote more articles about her intermittent battles or experiences and they were also published in publications such as Woman’s Day, Woman’s World and The Weekly Times.
In 2020 Margaret Pearce collected the stories together into a book under the title This Motherhood Caper. Stephen Matthews of Ginninderra Press, the publisher she sent it to, suggested the replacement name Not Mentioning Any Names.
Librarian and Manager Ajne Graham, who launched the book at the Ferntree Gully Library, read one of the stories, The Class Raffle, from it. She said this resonated with her and brought back memories of bringing up her own children. In this story, an entrepreneurial young boy set up a class raffle to dispose of eight unwanted ginger and white kittens his mother ordered him to dispose of.
Ajne Graham bought multiple copies of Not Mentioning Any Names for the library. “We will use the book for reminiscence activities to encourage others to write their stories,” she said.
Margaret Pearce entertained the audience with two other stories in her book. Listening to ‘The Collecting Instinct’ and learning the fate of rare coins found by a collector father’s young son would be enough to put any father off collecting coins. In ‘The Tomato Sauce Trick’, the author relates a grandmother’s ploy to get a suspicious grandson to eat her nutritious stew.
Margaret Pearce’s other stories vary greatly from one about a toddler who called all the dark men on public transport “Daddy”, to a pet story involving a gigantic vet bill for a guinea pig, to a flower child who at first wanted a barefoot beach wedding with the bride in cheesecloth and then wanted a church wedding with the bride in a red wedding dress and veil.
Not Mentioning Any Names, written in a simple colloquial style to suit a magazine, is very easy to read and enjoy. Readers will find themselves recalling their own experiences with children. Smiles are guaranteed, even if sometimes in sick dismay or even horror at some of the kids’ antics.
The illustrations were also a family affair. Margaret Pearce’s great-nephew Zac Barry drew the impish cupid-like cartoon figures on the cover while daughter Leonie McDonald did the internal sketches. Not Mentioning Any Names is an attractively-presented 124 pp A5 paperback selling for $25 plus P&H. Published by Ginninderra Press, it is available from Margaret Pearce mpearceau@gmail.com or Our books ginninderrapress.com.au.
