“Nightmare scenarios of the End may turn out to be a dramatic device intended to awaken people to deeper levels of awareness as life reaches not a final end, but a vital edge of revelation rippling with new discoveries and surprising insights.” – from the new book Why the World Doesn’t End.
Author and mythologist Michael Meade brings his vital blend of storytelling, poetry and discussion to Port Townsend on Saturday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m. at the Quimper Unitarian Church, 2333 San Juan Ave. Tickets are $12; proceeds support at-risk youth and multicultural projects.
This event celebrates the release of the timely new book, Why the World Doesn’t End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss.
“My previous book, Fate and Destiny, was a about the elements in an individual person’s story, how a person finds and lives their life,” Meade said. “My fourth book is the story of how a person is connected to the world, the bigger story.”
At a time when the end can seem near because of global warming, nuclear nightmares or the predictions of ancient calendars, mythologist Michael Meade offers compelling tales of renewal and surprising ways to view the psychology and mythology that mark the passage between one era and the next.
“Having worked with at-risk youth and homeless all over the country I recognize that the fears in our culture have filtered down to the young people,” Meade said. “So I wanted to write a book to explain why the world can’t end, rather that we are in a period of great change.”
A New York native with a razor-sharp wit, Meade’s insights are especially valuable since they have been hard-won through decades of work in the trenches of mentoring youth, visiting prisons, assisting war veterans and fostering dialogues between genders and races.
“Come as you are to the event, it will be part presentation and part group discussion with people sharing their own stories,” Meade said. “Each person will walk away with their own understanding.”
Through story, poetry and discussion, he is able to find common ground on hostile turf, working with Chicago gangs, in “barrios” in Los Angeles, on Native American reservations and with Sudanese refugees.
“Myth is a series of lies that tell the truth,” he said. “A lot of what is missing in the world today is imagination so, myth helps to tells the story.”
Thursday’s presentation is Meade’s second visit to Port Townsend in two years.
For more information or to purchase tickets visit
mosaicvoices.org.
