The Joy You Make
Steven Petrow in conversation with Dale Edwards: Reading, Signing, and Reception
Thursday, September 19
6:30pm: Reading and Signing
7:30pm: Reception
Free and open to all
Eno Arts Mill Gallery
437 Dimmocks Mill Rd. Suite 17, Hillsborough
From award-winning Washington Post columnist Steven Petrow, a guide to finding joy even during life’s most difficult times.
AN OPEN FIELD PUBLICATION FROM MARIA SHRIVER
We all know what it’s like to experience the disappointments and sorrows of life. Unexpected challenges like layoffs, divorce, illness, and the death of a loved one can leave us hurting and isolated. Add to that the unending anxiety we feel at the state of the world—political strife and global upheavals—and we end up with a recipe for . . . joy?
Yes, says journalist Steven Petrow, who has lived through all of those things, and arrived at a surprising conclusion: Joy is always present—in our everyday routines, in ties to those we care about, even in our grief. It may be easier to see and feel it during the good times, but we can learn to find joy even in the darkest days. All we need is a road map—and now we have one.
In The Joy You Make, Petrow explores the many expressions of joy and shows readers how to find, cultivate, and share it. He takes us on a journey from the darkness of the Arctic to a frenetic cancer ward in Manhattan, a trip that includes his parents’ deaths, the breakup of his marriage, and his sister’s cancer diagnosis. Combining his personal experiences with research and expert interviews, Petrow asks (and answers) the question: “What if there was a way to find the joy in everything?”
Come join him on his search, and make it yours.
Steven Petrow is an award-winning journalist and book author who is best known for his Washington Post and New York Times essays on aging, health, and civility. Steven’s 2019 TED Talk, “3 Ways to Practice Civility” has been viewed nearly two million times and translated into 16 languages.
Steven’s new book, The Joy You Make, will be published in September by The Open Field, Maria Shriver’s personally curated imprint at Penguin Random House. His last book, Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old, was published in 2021 and named one of the New York Times’ “favorite” books of the year (among other accolades). He’s also the author of Steven Petrow’s Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners and The Lost Hamptons. He’s a much sought-after public speaker, and you’re likely to hear him when you stream NPR or one of your favorite — or least favorite — TV networks. He’s a past president of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists and a current board member at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Steven is also the 2024 North Carolina Piedmont Laureate and lives in Hillsborough, N.C.
Follow Steven on Twitter at @StevenPetrow and “Like” him on Facebook.
For more about Steven, click here
