Tullamore woman Lorraine's 'First Dates' appearance leads to book role

A local woman has edited a new book by an author she met on TV dating show First Dates Ireland.

Tullamore resident Lorraine Dormer worked on 'Tales from the Village (Meeting the Inhabitants)' by Stan Phillips. The publication, which was printed by Print Plus in Tullamore, will be officially launched on July 16.

The book emerged following the appearance of its editor, Lorraine, on First Dates Ireland in January where a shared interest - a love of literature - ensured a meeting with Stan Phillips led to an ongoing deep friendship and the desire to publish a book.

Stan Phillips is a Londoner who, after a somewhat peripatetic life, which saw him working as a businessman, a fortune teller and a psychotherapist, finally found himself living in Ireland, and becoming a poet (amongst other things).

This book, the profits from which go to Palliative Care Waterford and Offaly Hospice/Dochas, had its gestation during the Covid-19 pandemic when Stan, an octogenarian, found himself locked away and writing short stories just for pleasure.

That would have been that, Stan explained, until a telephone call from the RTE Two's First Dates Ireland sent him on another new adventure.

While recording his segment in the programme, he met "the remarkable Lorraine Dormer, who, as a brilliant editor, turned those short stories into something worth publishing".

Lorraine said: "An important factor in the editing process was my desire to involve the services of a local company for the printing of the book. To that end Print Plus, Tullamore, have once again risen to the challenge with enthusiasm and cheerfulness."

Lorraine Dormer is one of the founder members of Wordsmiths Tullamore Creative Writers’ Group, which is still going strong.