WED APR 10 · 7:30 PM

Emalee Gillis will be reading from her inspirational memoir entitled, The Other Side of Madness: Adventures on the Path to Living Well with a Mental Illness. Over the past thirty years, Emalee has learned strategies that allow her to live a full life with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.  Her strategies are so innovative that she was asked to do a TEDx Talk which will be available on-line in March. 

Her memoir opens shortly after finishing her Peace Corps Service when Emalee woke up in a cage-like enclosure in a primitive insane asylum in the Ivory Coast, Africa.  That began a journey for her—to obtain her freedom, to find a diagnosis and to build a life that would accommodate her mental illness without being a victim of it. Ultimately, Emalee found healing by learning strategies from both the West and Africa.  Emalee is an author with published pieces covering mental health, historical, and human interest topics. Her articles have appeared in numerous regional magazines.