Chaucer’s Book Signing: Dr. Michael Kearney

Chaucer’s Books (3321 State Street, Santa Barbara) will host local author Dr. Michael Kearney M.D. for a book talk and signing of his latest offering “Becoming Forest: A Story of Deep Belonging” on Thursday, October 12 at 6 p.m.

Book Description  of “Becoming Forest…”

 Becoming Forest opens with Aishling–the young Irish woman at the heart of this story–as she visits her grandmother in California following her grandfather’s death. Aishling finds her grandfather’s journal and reads about a trip he made to India years ago to visit the original Bodhi Tree, the place where the Buddha found enlightenment. At the end of the journal, she finds a letter addressed to her from her grandfather asking for her help passing along his message of “deep security” to her generation as they deal with the climate crisis and the uncertain future ahead.

Aishling goes to India to follow in her grandfather’s path to find a way of responding to his request. There she meets and falls in love with a young Buddhist monk, who is also on a quest. As they walk together along the roads of India, they gather unexpected and invaluable insights from each other and come closer to the answers they both seek. Thirty years later, Aishling’s daughter Tara is visiting her in Ireland. Tara is grieving the death of her father and also the destruction of the forests from drought and fire. She is also searching for a way to heal the burnout she and her friends are experiencing while working to combat climate change.

Becoming Forest weaves together threads of Native American and Celtic spirituality with Buddhist understanding and connection to the natural world, creating a tapestry which holds both the despair and awakening of Aishling.

 Author Biography –  Dr. Michael Kearney M.D.

Michael Kearney has practiced for over 40 years as a palliative care physician in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and North America. He has worked with two of the pioneers of hospice and palliative care, with Cicely Saunders in London, and in Montreal with Balfour Mount. He is a student of Native American traditions and Mahayana Buddhism. His first book, Mortally Wounded: Stories of Soul Pain, Death, and Healing, was a bestseller in Ireland.

In his second book, A Place of Healing: Working with Nature and Soul at the End of Life, he wove together mythology, psychology, and poetry in exploring the healing role of dreams at the end of life. His third book, The Nest in the Stream, is a nature-based spiritual memoir that tells the story of his journey through burnout.

His new book, Becoming Forest- A Story of Deep Belonging, a fable of a young Irish woman who finds an antidote for her climate despair in the wisdom of trees, will be published in October 2023 by All Night Books. Michael is the founder and director of the Becoming Forest Project. Visit https://michaelkearneymd.com