Our latest Spotlight on projects and people within the Graphic Medicine international community focuses on a new illustrated memoir from Wendy Willis about her mother’s vascular dementia.
About the Work
I recently wrote and self-published an illustrated memoir about my mom’s vascular dementia diagnosis called, Of Tigers & Time Bandits. I’m currently printing and selling through Lulu and on my website.
My mom had a series of small strokes in 2019 that gave her instant short-term memory loss. It was devastating and hard to navigate her diagnosis at first. It hit my family and I like a ton of bricks and quite honestly, I dealt with the grief about it for far too long.
I wanted to use my background in comedy and animation to create a book for caregivers who might find themselves going through something similar. I didn’t want to shy away from the harsh realities of how life changes when your loved one is diagnosed with dementia, but I also wanted to offer a more light-hearted POV about how this very human experience. I longed for something like this when I was in the thick of my confusion and grief and hope it helps people not feel so alone.
About the Creator
I’m a creative animation producer by trade and ran development at Six Point Harness for about 8 years before taking a step back so I could focus more on my mom and aging family members. We produced the Oscar-winning short, Hair Love, (I was the executive in charge of production on that). I’m currently producing an hour-long original video animation called Yoppaman with Zack Fox and Gilga.
I’m also working on an animated short film about the high-cost of eldercare (told as a fake drug commercial that helps you shrink your loved one down so you can fit them into a dollhouse and care for them more easily) which I’ll distribute through my nonprofit, Now What?! animation. We plan to release it in Summer 2026.
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