By Jed Lanyon
Local author Catherine Moolenschot will return to Yarra Junction on Monday 3 June to share her story and speak about the process of writing Jim’s Book, a biography on Jim’s Mowing founder Jim Penman.
The 24-year-old interviewed over 100 people who played a part in Jim’s life to write The Surprising Story of Jim’s Mowing.
“He’s intricate, complex, unusual and at times unusually consistent,” she said.
“It was pretty full on. It was quite a job to unpack his story and then to find that there are always two to three sides to a story.”
Ms Moolenschot attended Little Yarra Steiner School and said she is looking forward to returning to Yarra Junction Library.
“I went to Little Yarra Steiner School my whole life. It’s where I grew up… I knew the library really well.”
Ms Moolenschot wrote her first book at the age of 13 as a school project in year eight and has published three books to date.
“I think it’s always kind of exciting and inspiring to see someone from your neck of the woods.
“I don’t think there are many young female biographers out there, so it would be nice to meet people for them to say, ‘oh look, I can do that too’.”
Ms Moolenschot hopes to give advice on what it takes to be a successful writer.
“There are two things, to read a lot and to write a lot.
“It’s important to have the belief in yourself that you can do it and then silencing the judgment and running with a story,” she said.
“It takes so many man-hours to write a good book and then a lot of that work is in the editing.”
The Surprising Story of Jim’s Mowing is available for purchase from Booktopia and Ms Moolenschot will be speaking at the Yarra Junction Library on Monday 3 June 2pm-3.30pm.
To book your place at the free event, call 9800 6462 or visit https://events.yourlibrary.com.au/
