The World I Fell Out Of: The Inspiring Sunday Times Bestseller

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From the 1960s on, residents were complaining to authorities about the smell of fumes from the plant; more recent media reports contain residents' recollections of curtains that melted, of factory workers' footprints leaving dead patches on lawns; of children playing with the orange foam from the effluent stream between the factory to the sea. In two incidents an explosion in 1972 and an equipment failure in 1986 the factory released chemicals across the town. Unflinchingly honest and beautifully observed, this is a memoir about the joy - and the risks - of riding horses, the complicated nature of heroism, the bonds of family and the comfort of strangers. Above all, The World I Fell Out Of is a reminder that at any moment the life we know can be turned upside down - and a plea to start appreciating what we have while we have it. These days, I pinch myself, but yes, that really is me lingering over the Easylife catalogue and thinking, ‘Ooh, that could be very useful.’ That is me, excited at the magic device you attach to your carkeys or your phone to locate them (Dave wants one for his dental top plate).

And I’d say, ‘In your dreams,’ in a fond sort of way and we carried on being fit and healthy and middle-aged. In 2014 Gregor approached Times columnist Melanie Reid to help him tell his story. Together they travelled through the mining villages of central Scotland to uncover the mystery of his birth and early life. What emerged was a story of secrets, deception, tragic accidents and early death, coldness and rejection from some, but a welcome from the most unexpected of quarters. Whatever the reason, Reid convinced herself that she would defy the odds and recover. After finding she could wiggle one of her toes, she drove herself to the brink of madness trying to prove the doctors wrong. When she realised her condition had plateaued, and that she would, in fact, always be in a wheelchair, she hit a trough. The experience taught her that "if you can motivate people to care, change can happen" and she decided to become a journalist. The travails of the little guy up against big bureaucracy has been a recurring theme, from a Christchurch family fighting for compensation because they believed the garden fungicide Benlate was the cause of their child's birth deformity, to a piece in defence of Christchurch daycare worker Peter Ellis. There have been fluffy pieces, too, such as the 20/20 report on "psychic" Jeanette Wilson which won Reid a "Bent Spoon" award for gullibility in the field of the paranormal from the Skeptics Society. WHAT IS it like to be Melanie Reid, TV3's best and brightest investigative journalist, on the trail of the biggest story of your career?

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Now she has written a book detailing life from that fateful moment through her long months in the spinal unit of a Glasgow Hospital to the initial fears and challenges of returning home and the impact on relationships. This webinar is available for on-demand viewing. The webinar recording will be available for registered event participants up to 60 days after the live webinar broadcast via Zoom. The link will be sent 24 hours after the webinar takes place. Fascinating place, abrupt old age. There were new tribal routines. Topics of conversation, for a start. The inescapable one: ‘Did you sleep well?’ Couples don’t ask each other this! They already know! But when you’re no longer young hotties entwined all night, you don’t. Now it’s only polite to ask, to celebrate making it alive to morning. It’s an opportunity to discuss cold feet and sore hips.

Much about the science of dioxin is messy. For example, there is no dispute that dioxin causes some cancers, but there is vigorous disagreement on whether or not it can cause multi-generational mutations. TV3 quotes the studies which support the idea that dioxin is "mutagenic"; the Ministry of Health quotes those which suggest it isn't. Similarly, it is difficult to accurately state precisely how elevated blood dioxin levels might affect the health of a given individual. "Safe" levels of dioxin exposure have been repeatedly revised downwards over the decades as new evidence of its dangers have come to hand.TV3 fired off a trenchant letter to ESR expressing surprise at such interference by a taxpayer-funded organisation, and pointing out that until the BSA ruled, any such breach was arguable at best. Naturally, the Qantas judges took no notice of the letter, and the only action Jennings took in response was to "applaud extra loudly" when the documentary was awarded "Investigation of the Year".

There’s so much I haven’t asked her – questions about assisted dying (though she’s written strongly enough in its favour); about stem-cell experimentation; about the mostly-invisibility of disabled people in the media. A I am patron of the Spinal Research charity. One of the reasons I became a patron is that I firmly believe there will be a cure this century with enough research funding, but it won't come in time for me. I am 61 now. But I want it to come in time for young people who are now suffering from spinal injuries. They have been cheated out of a lot of good years. Over the years, Reid has also gained an understanding of the politics of disability. The columns she wrote while she was determined to recover were sincere, and the admiration they provoked was justified. But there are those who believe the raising up of individuals for their determination to overcome their limitations promotes the idea that others aren't trying hard enough. From the 1970s on, there was growing international concern that dioxin could lead to an array of diseases, especially cancers. In the same decade, a number of "clusters" of birth defects observed in New Zealand were alleged to have been caused by maternal exposure to 2,4,5-T. In 1986 Reid completed the journalism course at Wellington Polytechnic. Later she applied for a journalist training programme at TVNZ. Told it was full, her reply was “you should take me because I’ll be really good."The World I Fell Out Of is a vital, profound story shot through with insight and revelations. Melanie Reid has written the most important book of 2019.' -Susanna Forrest, author of If Wishes Were Horses

Because you aren’t fanciable and you won’t be, can’t be and never will be. Because the great game of sex, in all its hurts and joys and sleaziness and beauty, is no longer one you can play." In the final episode of Third Degree in November 2015, Reid argued that "without serious journalism we weaken our democracy. I’m proud that I've been part of a team who fought hard for accountability and a better New Zealand. We fought hard for democracy and we fought hell of a hard for the truth."For members of the public who couldn't care less about such niceties of journalistic practice, though, what really matter are the complaints about accuracy. They want to know if the documentary was right in saying that the government has for 30 years failed to take proper steps to look into health problems caused by dioxin from IWD, whether it has consistently misinformed the public, and whether it has botched again with the serum study. It's beautiful - full of love and light - and an exploration into not only how, but why we survive, despite everything.' - Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness Hi,” she calls down, and I find her, (sitting in her chair, of course), looking softer – younger, actually - than the photograph in her column; fair hair haloing.