Opening Night Vigil with Anne Lamott and Kristin Urquiza
After hearing from Anne Lamott, Kristin Urquiza, Pastor Corey Kennard , who will lead us through the candlelight vigil, we will move into meaningful breakout rooms. Please stay and connect with your digital neighbors.
Anne Lamott writes and speaks about subjects that begin with capital letters: Alcoholism, Motherhood, Jesus. But armed with self-effacing humor – she is laugh-out-loud funny – and ruthless honesty, Lamott converts her subjects into enchantment. Actually, she writes about what most of us don’t like to think about. She wrote her first novel for her father, the writer Kenneth Lamott, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. She has said that the book was “a present to someone I loved who was going to die.” In all her novels, she writes about loss – loss of loved ones and loss of personal control. She doesn’t try to sugar-coat the sadness, frustration, and disappointment, but tells her stories with honesty, compassion, and a pureness of voice. As she says, “I have a lot of hope and a lot of faith and I struggle to communicate that.” Anne Lamott does communicate her faith; in her books and in person, she lifts, comforts, and inspires, all the while keeping us laughing.
Kristin Urquiza is an activist whose obituary of her father who died from COVID-19 garnered national attention. She is the creator of a movement called @MarkedByCOVID, which educates the public on the truth about this disease and advocates for a coordinated, data-driven response to the pandemic. She gave an impassioned speech at this year's Democratic National Convention and was a guest of Vice President Joe Biden's at the first 2020 presidential debate.
Pastor Corey Kennard is a Reimagine board member and a healthcare activist who is the leader of a spiritual care team at one of Detroit's largest hospitals, which fights for equality in healthcare and beyond.
More about Anne Lamott:
Anne Lamott is the author of seven novels, Hard Laughter, Rosie, Joe Jones, Blue Shoe, All New People, Crooked Little Heart, and Imperfect Birds. She has also written several bestselling books of nonfiction, including, Operating Instructions, an account of life as a single mother during her son’s first year; Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son; and the classic book on writing; Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. She has also authored several collections of autobiographical essays on faith; Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, and Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith. In addition, she has written, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, Stitches; A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair, Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace, Hallelujah Anyway; Rediscovering Mercy and her most recent book Almost Everything: Notes on Hope. Her next book will be Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage (March 9, 2021, Riverhead).
Lamott has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has taught at UC Davis, as well as at writing conferences across the country. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock has made a documentary on Lamott, entitled “Bird by Bird with Annie” (1999). Anne Lamott has also been inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
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