Being present through the final days, and then through the moment of death of a beloved friend, spouse, or child is possibly the most profound journey we ever take. Marjorie Ryerson, author of Companions for the Passage: Stories of the Intimate Privilege of Accompanying the Dying, will share stories she collected for her book in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on April 2 at 7:00 PM. and is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and takes place at 7:00 p.m.

Ryerson is an award-winning professor, photographer, poet and journalist. She taught writing and photography at Castleton State College from 1991 until 2005, and was selected as the Vermont State Colleges Faculty Fellow for the academic year 2000-2001—the highest honor awarded to a professor in the Vermont State College system. Ryerson currently teaches nonfiction writing for Johnson State College, poetry and creative non-fiction for Middlebury College at the annual New England Young Writers' Conference at Bread Loaf, and creative nonfiction at the Young Vermonters' Writing Conference at Champlain College.

She is the executive director of the Vermont-based nonprofit Water Music, Inc. Her books include Water Music and Companions for the Passage: Stories of the Intimate Privilege of Accompanying the Dying. Her nonfiction articles and photographs have been published widely throughout New England. She is currently at work on two more books.

The Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays Brattleboro series is held on the first Wednesday of every month from October through May, featuring speakers of national and regional renown. Talks are held at Brooks Memorial Library, and the 2007-8 Brattleboro series concludes with “Don Quixote: The Greatest Novel Ever,” with Amherst College Professor Ilan Stavans on May 7.

First Wednesdays is supported in part by the Institute of Museum & Library Services through the Vermont Department of Libraries. Brooks Memorial Library is sponsored by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, Entergy-Vermont, Friends of Brooks Memorial Library, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and Trustees of Brooks Memorial Library.

For more information, contact Brooks Memorial Library at 802.254.5290 or brattlib@brooks.lib.vt.us. For all library events, see the library’s calendar at www.brooks.lib.vt.us. # # #