National Alliance on Mental Illness Kick Off Luncheon to Host Bay Area Author Peggy Kennedy

March 24, 2010 - PRLog -- Peggy Kennedy is the author of “Approaching Neverland: A Memoir of Epic Tragedy and Happily Ever After”. She will speak about her book and share insights with those who are dealing with their own journeys into the often terrifying world of mental illness. Her dedication to NAMI is second to none, and her book has been cited as one of the best memoirs ever written to assist people in understanding mental illness.

Ms. Kennedy knows firsthand just what it's like to grow up in such an environment. Her mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder back during a time when mental illness was a safely guarded secret and treatments were limited to electroshock therapy and debilitating drugs. Her story is indeed one of tragedy, but in the end she and her family survived those horrors with the bonds of love and humor.

Now, as her book receives more and more acclaim, she is stepping up and sharing her success with NAMI. With over 1,200 affiliates spanning all 50 states and Puerto Rico, NAMI provides support, education, information and referral, and advocacy. It is the nation's largest grassroots organization for people with mental illness and their families.

NAMI Walk is a fund raiser that provides free mental health programs for individuals and families dealing with mental illness including “Family to Family”, “In Our Own Voice” and “Peer to Peer”. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties are all included in these efforts.

NAMI Walk San Francisco Kick Off Luncheon will be held on March 25, 2010 at Faz Restaurant, 5121 Hopyard Rd., Pleasanton, CA. For more information, visit Ms. Kennedy's website (link below) or NAMI's site at  http://namiwalksfbay.org/

About the author:
Peggy Kennedy grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and attended Mills College where she received a degree in Asian Studies. She sold real estate for with years before splitting with her husband and moving to San Francisco to start an events business that developed sponsorship for the Bay Bridge 50th Birthday Celebration, the Bay Bridge Permanent Lighting Campaign, In Concert Against AIDS, and the annual Chinese New Year Celebration. Compelled to write her family's unique and moving story, Kennedy began working on Approaching Neverland in 2004. She has been reunited with her husband for 19 years and lives in the East Bay with their younger son, chocolate lab, three horses, and their older son's annoying cat. She continues to market the Chinese New Year celebration. The author is available for interviews. For further information, visit her site : http://approachingneverland.com.

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About Approaching Neverland: Dedicated to assisting families dealing with mental illnesses and families of gay/lesbians with AIDS.