“Tender Battles: Fighting for Dignity in the Face of Decline and Bureaucracy” features authors Virginia Evans and Jeremy White
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Baton Rouge, LA — October 21, 2025 — Two Baton Rouge authors with new memoirs about caring for ailing parents will discuss their battles and victories during a panel discussion at the 21st annual Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, Nov. 1. “Tender Battles: Fighting for Dignity in the Face of Decline and Bureaucracy” features Virginia Evans and Jeremy White sharing their respective stories.
In “The Youngest Bee: A Louisiana Story of Sisterhood, Strength, & Alzheimer’s,” Evans’ world is shattered when her beloved father, Red, becomes seriously ill and passes away when she is just 24 years old. Reality sets in at his funeral as the “Youngest Bee” realizes that she is no longer the baby of the family. Evans takes on the responsibility of caring for her grieving, aging mother, Mildred. When not working, the LSU Law School graduate enjoys sharing her valuable experience as a caregiver as well as helping others cope with aging parents.
White’s latest memoir, “InHumana: An American Healthcare Story,” details how the only child was conscripted into a war with a soulless monstrosity that repeatedly tried to throw his widowed mom’s life away with the surreptitious aid of artificial intelligence, all while gaslighting them with contradictory rationales. Months after a stroke and two seizures robbed White’s mom of use of her right side, a federal judge ruled her the victor of their war against Humana for wrongfully denying critically needed care. White and his wife, Edie, founded the award-winning satirical publication “Red Shtick Magazine,” as well as its digital progeny, The Red Shtick, which served as an $800 clue in the 2022 “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.”
The discussion begins at 9 a.m. in Conference Center 118 of the Bienville Building, 628 N. Fourth St., in downtown Baton Rouge’s Capitol Park. The panel’s moderator, Miki Pfeffer, won the Eudora Welty Prize for authoring “Southern Ladies and Suffragists.” She is a visiting scholar at Nicholls State University.
The Louisiana Book Festival is the state’s signature literary event, drawing more than 20,000 attendees to downtown Baton Rouge annually. Presented by the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana, the festival brings together leading authors, publishing professionals, and book lovers from across the state and nation. Admission is free. More information is available at LouisianaBookFestival.org.
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