Jennifer Dupree presents Slow Motion

gibsonsbookstore.com/event/slow-motion
Award-winning author Jennifer Dupree visits Gibson's to present Slow Motion: A Memoir of Friendship, Disability, and Advocacy. She will be joined in conversation with her friend and fellow author, Melanie Brooks (A Hard Silence).
A heartfelt homage to a life-changing friendship
At twenty-one, Jen Dupree is working as an Activity Director in a nursing home when she meets Marcel—a man twenty-five years her senior who has cerebral palsy. Despite the physical limitations of his disability, Jen sees in Marcel a magnificent spark: endless curiosity, infectious humor, and an unshakeable propensity for joy. When a doctor tells Marcel to "get up and move around" despite his chart clearly noting he's never walked, Jen asks if the doctor brought his magic wand. It's the beginning of a friendship that will span three decades.
We live in a society that values speed and efficiency, so what does it mean when your life is necessarily slow and you must rely on others for tasks as simple as wiping your nose? Through nearly thirty years of Portland Pirates hockey games, concerts, hospital advocacy battles, and countless adventures, Jen discovers the answer alongside Marcel.
Slow Motion is both a heartfelt tribute to an extraordinary friendship and an awakening to disability rights and advocacy. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, these stories reveal how Marcel has navigated prejudice, medical dismissal, and an ableist culture with grace and determination—and how Jen learned to see the world through entirely new eyes.
This is a story about showing up, speaking out, and the transformative power of chosen family. With deadpan humor and unflinching honesty, Dupree offers readers a portrait of friendship that transcends difference and celebrates our shared humanity.
About the Author
Jen Dupree is the award-winning author of two novels, The Miraculous Flight of Owen Leach (2022) and What Do You Want from Me? (2025). Slow Motion: A Memoir of Friendship, Disability, and Advocacy is her first full-length work of nonfiction. She is an assistant editor for The Masters Review, a library director, and a former bookstore owner. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from USM’s Stonecoast program. Her work has appeared in Slippery Elm, December, Solstice, The Masters Review, On the Rusk and other notable places. She is the winner of the Writer’s Digest Fiction Contest, a Pushcart nominee, and a two-time winner of a Maine Literary Award. She lives in Maine with her husband and Portuguese Water Dog (Pink) Floyd.