Submitted by the Lopez Island Library
The Lopez Library is pleased to introduce a new ongoing speaker series titled “Know your Neighbor.” The series will be a continuing opportunity for Lopez locals to speak about their publications, profession and/or expertise to the library public. First in the series will be local author and spiritual counselor Priscilla Stuckey. On Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m., Priscilla Stuckey will read from her two books, “Kissed by a Fox: And Other Stories of Friendship in Nature” (2012) and “Tamed by a Bear: Coming Home to Nature-Spirit-Self” (2017).
“Kissed by a Fox” offers tender stories of connection between the author and the natural world. Each chapter blends personal stories with insights drawn from history, ecology, the natural sciences, and spiritual traditions to reflect deeply upon how modern humans might find a way back to connecting with nature. The opening story in the book takes place here on Lopez Island. Tamed by a Bear is a memoir of one transformative year in Stuckey’s life, detailing her direct communications with the animal spirit of a bear. The warm-hearted conversations between Bear and Stuckey stimulates a reinvigoration of the author’s nature-spirituality in everyday life.
Stuckey is a writer and spiritual counselor with a passion for reconnecting people with nature. She holds a P.h.D. in religious studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California and she has taught in the graduate programs of Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona, and Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She now lives on Lopez Island with her longtime sweetheart, Tim, and their blue heeler mix Bodhi.
In addition to her reading, Stuckey will teach a writing class at the library titled, “Writing and Listening: A Contemplative Workshop Connecting Self, Spirit and Nature.” The workshop will be on Saturday, Sept.15 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the library community room. For more information about the workshop, contact Malia Sanford, Library Programs Coordinator, malia@lopezlibrary.org.
