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Mother-son inspirational speaking duo

Making Lemonade With Ben: The Audacity To Cope Ben connects with eyes, words, mind and heart.

“Katherine and Ben are outstanding advocates for all individuals.”

“Would love to have students of medicine see this!” Don’t want a Powerpoint? No problem! “Inspiring and valuable information…”

“Very motivating!”

“Loved, loved, loved this


“Thought provoking!”

“Absolutely on topic…”


“Positive and great use of humor.”

“Keep going Ben!”

Wisconsin Health Literacy Summit comments, April 2015
Photos courtesy Terri Connelly Cronk

Wisconsin Health Literacy Summit: 7 minute-clip Keynote Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District 900 on their feet: “Absolutely unique!”
“Best in-service ever!”




To inquire about speaking availability: email@example.com

Photos and text copyright 2016. All rights reserved.




Humor. Hope. Information. Inspiration. Need unique keynote speakers sure to motivate? Perreth and Perreth always deliver.

Katherine and Ben Perreth, Wisconsin mother and son inspirational speaking duo, provide customized, upbeat presentations.

Will we leave our beloved state to speak? Of course!

To inquire about availability, click on the photo above for:

Katherine & Ben in Action Ben adlibs; brings down the house At the Concourse Hotel in our finery Media moment Ben, making one of his many points. Customized Powerpoint won’t work? That’s ok! Post-keynote swirl Dancing among cans of peas and corn. Lemons always at the ready Two really good sports – featured in the keynote Ben’s motto and signature Time to talk post-keynote We so appreciate your heartfelt comments post speaking A pair of camera hams! Receiving Award for Making Lemonade With Ben: The Audacity to Cope A bit of (relevant) Powerpoint fun

Want more Ben? Survivor, philosopher, humorist…or as 28-year-old Ben puts it, “I’m still here!” Read the award-winning story of his life: Click book cover for Amazon/Kindle. Ereader downloads: Smashwords.com. Order from any bookstore, borrow from any public library! So many ways to Make Lemonade With Ben!

Making Lemonade With Ben: The Audacity to Cope Reviews

“A poignant memoir, full of hope and deep, abiding love. The life lessons she shares in this lengthy memoir make it a worthwhile read; the Perreths’ perseverance, and Ben’s continually sunny disposition—despite having to relearn how to walk more than once—are truly humbling. A bold, honest account of surviving tragedy and living with disability." – Kirkus Reviews

“Ms. Perreth incorporates her very unique brand of irreverent humor in the telling of some of her life's most harrowing tales. Her ability to laugh through her tears is inspiring as a survival tactic; yet, it by no means lessens the gravity of the circumstances described. As courageously as Ms. Perreth details the challenges of raising a child with special needs, it is her willingness to explore her own internal landscape that ultimately sets Making Lemonade With Ben apart as an incredibly powerful work.”
- Kelly B, Midwest Book Review, January 2015

“With wry humor that lightens but also wrenches depending on the moment, Perreth shares the effects on her marriage and younger children and salutes those who held them up, particularly mental health advocates at Madison’s Yahara House.” - Karyn Saemann, Madison Magazine, August 2013 - http://www.madisonmagazine.com/Madison-Magazine/August-2013/Coping-Through-It-All/

“It is amazing how Katherine Perreth's engaging sense of humor shines through even in the most difficult of situations. The author succeeds in removing the stigma that comes with mental illness. Above all, this inspiring story proves that love, mixed with a healthy dose of humor, can conquer all.”
– Maria Beltran for Readers' Favorite

"This spring season, there arrives a remarkable book..." - Doug Moe, Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday, May 26, 2013 - http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/columnists/doug-moe/doug-moe-making-lemonade-with-ben/article_5972e154-1d12-5568-9d1a-e0a16708d4f5.html

OnWisconsin Bookshelf: Fall 2013

“This tale of triumphant woe,” says Katherine Wilken Perreth ’83 of her memoir, Making Lemonade with Ben: The Audacity to Cope (CreateSpace), “chronicles the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical effects on my family after I found our seven-year-old son, Ben, in a coma,” as well as his “traumatic life” since then. The staff of the UW Hospital and Clinics figures prominently in the story, as do the Yahara House, a mental-illness treatment and recovery program in Madison; and the Madison Children’s Museum, where Ben now works and delights visitors. He helped the museum to accept its 2011 National Medal for Museum and Library Service in Washington, D.C., and was named one of Madison Magazine’s top ten who give back to the community in November 2012. Katherine Perreth, of Middleton, Wisconsin, is a freelance reporter and assists her husband, Daniel Perreth ’82, at the Wisconsin ESL Institute, where he’s a director. - See more at: http://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/diversions/bookshelf-8/#sthash.9rA7ZbJy.dpuf

Madison Public Library Book Club Kit List


Making Lemonade With Ben
