BRATTLEBORO — Bestselling author Cheryl Strayed will speak at the Latchis Theatre on Tuesday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m., in celebration of Brattleboro Area Hospice's 40th anniversary.
A Wild Life: Growing Through Life's Challenges is an evening of inspiration, wisdom, and storytelling with Strayed, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, a book that inspired Oprah Winfrey to revive the tremendously popular Oprah's Book Club and Reese Witherspoon to bring Wild to the big screen in 2014.
According to a news release, by using her own story of vulnerability and resilience, “Strayed inspires people to find unexpected inner strength in the face of obstacles.”
At 26, grieving the death of her mother, Strayed hiked alone more than 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State.
Strayed will discuss her revelations from the trail, including “how we bear the unbearable, how we move from grief and anger to acceptance, and how we keep walking even when it seems impossible to stand.”
In addition to Wild, Strayed is the author of New York Times bestsellers Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough, and the novel Torch. Strayed's books have been translated into nearly 40 languages and have been adapted for screen and stage.
Strayed co-authored, with Steve Almond, The Sweet Spot advice column in The New York Times Thursday Styles section. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Portland, Ore.
The event is a fundraiser for Brattleboro Area Hospice, which provides, free of charge, “a broad range of volunteer-based services for living and dying well, focusing on end-of-life, bereavement, and advance care planning.”