Pequot Library Plans Panel On Grief For 'One Book, One Town' Series

Press release from Pequot Library:

Feb. 14, 2023

In support of this year’s One Book, One Town selection I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye: A Memoir of Loss, Grief, and Love by Fairfield resident Ivan Meisel, Pequot Library has convened mental health experts in a panel discussion on how grief is processed at different ages and life stages, to be held on February 22 at 6 p.m. This open and frank conversation will include clinicians and experts representing Silver Hill Hospital, the Child Guidance Center of Mid-Fairfield, Fairfield University’s Counseling & Psychological Services, as well as other institutions. Dr. Harry Schmitz, a clinical psychologist and former professor at CUNY and Fordham who also headed his own international consulting firm serving Fortune 500 companies, will be co-moderating the panel. He did a substantial amount of grief counseling with the companies directly impacted by 9/11.

Charlie McMahon, Adults Programs Manager at Pequot Library, said, “We at the Library are keen to address mental health challenges in the wake of Covid. We hope that the community will embrace the opportunity to glean advice from leading area practitioners about this important albeit sensitive topic.”

Copies of I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye and its companion books are available to borrow at either location of Fairfield Public Library and at Pequot Library, or for purchase at the Fairfield University Bookstore. One Book, One Town and its attendant programs are made possible through the sponsorship of The Friends of the Fairfield Public Library.

ABOUT I KEEP TRYING TO CATCH HIS EYE:

I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye is an honest and emotionally deep memoir in which Maisel reflects on the loss of his son, Max, to suicide, the impact of grief on family and community, and the painful journey that brings Maisel to a place of seeing grief as an expression of love. Maisel will be appearing at the Fairfield University Quick Center for the Arts on Tuesday, March 28 at 7 p.m. Registration for this event is required and will begin on Tuesday, February 28.

ABOUT ONE BOOK ONE TOWN:

The One Book One Town initiative was inspired by a program created by librarian and author Nancy Pearl of the Seattle Public Library’s Washington Center for the Book, who wondered what would happen if everyone in the city read the same book simultaneously. Fairfield’s own community reading initiative— named One Book One Town—began in 2008, when a committee of members from Fairfield Public Library, the Pequot Library, Fairfield University, Fairfield University Bookstore, and the Fairfield Public Schools met to select that year’s book.

This press release was produced by Pequot Library. The views expressed here are the author's own.