As I mentioned during last night’s conversation with this month’s featured author Kris O’Shee, I came to her memoir Our Last Blue Moon with my own backstory: I am a proud alum of George Mason University, and 1455 is delighted to partner with the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center, named after the writer, teacher, and all around literary superhero Alan Cheuse (or Professor Cheuse, as we mere mortals knew him back in the day). I bumbled my way through many writing workshops as both an undergrad and grad student, but never had the pleasure of being taught by Alan; it didn’t matter — his reputation preceded him, and everyone knew him anyway, not only because of his celebrated novels, but his role as “the voice of books” via NPR’s All Things Considered. It was, then, an extra pleasure to learn more about the writer and the man, as well as his widow, Kris, who writes so fondly of him and their relationship (including the before and after, covering the highest highs, the deepest of lows, and the odd, magical space that entails trauma, grief, and healing). As you’ll see from the video (below), Kris was the yin to Alan’s yang (she an extrovert, he more reserved), a natural storyteller, and engaging presence. It may fill some with envy that this, her first book (!) is so accomplished and affecting, but hopefully it fills any writer or reader with an awe and admiration: for her talents, her honesty, and the gifts she provides via her words. (Special gratitude to everyone’s favorite literary mastermind Bill Miller for helping facilitate this event, and for being himself. Check out our conversation here.)
As always, it’s our pleasure to partner with D.C.’s historic Potter’s House and we encourage you to support independent booksellers by procuring your copies of OUR LAST BLUE MOON via their website.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In Our Last Blue Moon, dancer Kris O’Shee, widow of Alan Cheuse, the novelist, beloved teacher, and literary commentator known as the “voice of books” on NPR’s All Things Considered for over thirty years, tells the story of the loss of her husband after he sustained injuries in a car crash in the summer of 2015. O’Shee chronicles the days in the Northern California hospital, the bedside vigil after Cheuse lapsed into a coma, and ultimately, his death.
In her publishing debut, O’Shee writes in engaging and honest prose, in a memoir that is deeply personal and self-aware, without any self-pity or cliché. This is a story vivid in language, awash in love, and honest in reflecting on twenty-five happily shared years with the love of O’Shee’s life. Reeling from Cheuse’s death, O’Shee was thrust into widowhood. Rattled by grief, she eventually wrote her way to a new stage of life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kris O’Shee spent four decades as a modern dancer and choreographer, including a decade in London, where she cofounded Junction Dance Company and taught at the London Contemporary Dance School. After returning to the US, she taught and performed in the San Francisco Bay Area before taking a position on the dance faculty at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. She then moved to Washington, DC, to live with her husband, Alan Cheuse, and founded O’Shee Dances, through which she continued choreographing and performing. In the last two decades, O’Shee earned a certificate in massage therapy and a graduate degree in psychology. She currently has a private practice in psychotherapy in DC, where she resides. This is her first book. Visit her online.
