Author Showcase -- Lisa Rimmert -- Comedian and Memoir author of "Stay: My Forever Friendship with an Aging Dog"

A heartwarming and humorous memoir about one woman’s naïve attempts to ignore, deny, and will away her dog’s mortality.

After a slew of untimely goodbyes to childhood pets, Lisa’s first act as a newly-graduated and -married twentysomething was to adopt a dog of her own. She made a vow to four-month-old Dakota: to give her a long, happy life and to be there for her until the very end.

After nearly thirteen years of inseparable companionship and adventure, Dakota is beginning to show signs of aging. When an accident in the house leads to a visit with a veterinary neurologist, Lisa struggles to accept Dakota’s mortality, instead relying on her usual defense mechanisms: rationalizing, making jokes, and leaving it up to her husband, Brad, to be the adult.

As she navigates the caretaking of her elderly dog, Lisa begins to understand what love actually looks like, what it means to stay present, and how best to show up for the ones she loves the most.

This book is a must for anyone who has ever cared for an elderly pet, has the good fortune to do so in the future, or enjoyed Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley, Woodrow on the Bench by Jenna Blum, or Gizelle’s Bucket List by Lauren Fern Watt.

Lisa Rimmert is a nomad but considers St. Louis home. She has 15+ years of professional experience in marketing, public relations, and fundraising. She holds a master’s degree in public relations from Webster University and a bachelor’s in mass communication from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Lisa is a member of the Dog Writers Association, the Independent Book Publishers Association, and Women Funders in Animal Rights. Her work has been published on TheBark.com and her jokes have echoed through bars and comedy clubs all over the U.S., including in St. Louis, where she got her start. STAY is her first book.

As an added treat, Lisa will be back Tuesday Jan. 24 for a standup feature at Spines Tuesday Night Comedy Open Mic Night!

Door: 6pm
Interview/Reading/Discussion begins at 7:00pm