Our November Books & Brews features author Marietta McCarty discussing her book Leaving 1203 Emptying a Home- Filling the Heart. Bereaved following her mother’s death, McCarty faces the daunting task of emptying her beloved family home. How might she find a way through the inevitable emotional turmoil and the accumulation of more than five decades in the house at 1203? Told with McCarty’s characteristic wisdom, marvel, exuberance, and good will, Leaving 1203 is about navigating that way through. The author draws on all available resources— friends and strangers, food and laughter, life lessons learned in the very house she now empties, and, not least, her newly-inherited canine companion, Billy. A seasoned philosopher, McCarty simultaneously learns and deftly teaches the fine arts of remembering, letting go, and holding on to what matters most. She not only finds the way through, she shows the way.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at Pale Fire Brewing Company in Harrisonburg at 7pm.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 in Crozet at the Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery at 7pm.
WMRA's Books & Brews series is sponsored by Union Bank & Trust.
When you present your WMRA MemberCard at either event, you'll receive a certificate for a complimentary beer.
No tickets are required.
Marietta McCarty is the author of bestseller Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids, Nautilus Gold Award winner How Philosophy Can Save Your Life: 10 Ideas That Matter Most, and The Philosopher’s Table: How to Start Your Philosophy Dinner Club. Her new book Leaving 1203: Emptying a Home, Filling the Heart is out now.
In 2013 Marietta brought all the mental clarity she could muster to the emotional and physical challenge of emptying her family home of fifty-six years. Returning to her hometown, the three months of home emptying taught her anew the old lessons in good living. She experienced, firsthand and unforgettably, the meaning of joy, kindness, relationship, empathy, generosity, and gratitude. Marietta’s crystal-clear memories evoked as home emptier proved that the foundation of her first three books was cemented long ago in the bricks and mortar of the old home. As a child at 1203, she indulged in simple pleasures and outdoor fun, good conversations marked by listening and respect, laughter and a sense of belonging. Pieces of 1203 reside with her at her home in Charlottesville, where she keeps her eye on the prize of good living through teaching and learning, speaking and listening.
