The Library is pleased to introduce local author and spiritual counselor Priscilla Stuckey. On Thursday, September 13th at 7pm by the library fireside, 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, detailing Priscilla Stuckey’s direct communications with the animal spirit of a bear. The warm-hearted conversations between Bear and Stuckey suggest a reinvigoration of nature-spirituality in everyday life, and an awakening to the call of the Earth to all human beings: to listen to a more-than-human wisdom in order to address the social and environmental crises born of our separation from nature.
Priscilla is a writer and spiritual counselor with a passion for reconnecting people with nature. She holds a PhD 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 on September 13th, Priscilla will teach a writing class at the library titled “A Contemplative Workshop Connecting Self, Spirit, and Nature” on Saturday, September 15th from 11am-1pm.
Priscilla’s talk is the first in the library’s new ongoing Know Your Neighbor Speaker Series. The series is a continuing opportunity for Lopez locals to speak about their publications, profession, and/or expertise to the library public.