I've been asked to be a panelist there at the 9:00 a.m. panel discussion Ad Astra: Emergencies, Emergences and Restorations, with top-notch memoir authors Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg and Dr. Craig Yorke as we discuss struggles and "to the stars with difficulty." Because our three books contain plenty of "difficulty." This is a huge honor for me. Thank you, KBF organizers!
Caryn’s book The Magic Eye depicts her struggle with a rare eye cancer, coupled with prairie restoration and wildlife refuge, moving toward surviving the personal emergency and the emergency of our environment.
Craig’s book, subtitled Steep, A Black Neurosurgeon’s Journey, depicts the strict expectations that he will be an honor to his race, his difficult training in medicine, his coming to Topeka (at first working at Menninger), the emergencies he attended to in performing complicated brain surgery, and then his coming to peace with the steep price he has paid. His retirement includes being on the board of The Children’s Discovery Center as it was founded and developed, and he and his wife Mary created a prairie on the center’s land in Gage Park.
My novel Lunacy And Acts of God, though not a memoir, also takes place in Kansas. My young narrator is trying to understand a confusing world of race relations, religion, picketers, and mental illness in 1950s Topeka, as well as survive a blizzard and being struck by lightning, (because we all know about Kansas weather!) and make peace with her chaotic life.
I hope you can join us on September 20th for Ad Astra: Emergencies, Emergences and Restorations and what's sure to be a great conversation about struggles and successes.