The book, "The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade," by local author, Thomas Lynch, is the focus of Pageturners book club's March selection. Pageturners, Schoolcraft College’s book discussion group, is offering students, staff, faculty and the community four different opportunities to explore "The Undertaking" this month, including two discussions (March 22 and 26), a viewing of an episode of Frontline about the book (March 21), and a Meet the Author event with Lynch (March 27).
"Frontline: The Undertaking" will be shown on Wednesday, March 21 at 1 p.m. in the McDowell Center on the college’s main campus in Livonia. The book will be discussed on Thursday, March 22 at 4 p.m. at the Radcliff Center in Garden City and again on Monday, March 26 at 1:15 p.m. in the McDowell Center. On Tuesday, March 27, Lynch will discuss his book with readers at 1:15 p.m. in the VisTaTech Center, also on the college’s main campus in Livonia. Lynch's visit is being co-sponsored by Pageturners and the college's Nursing Department.
Lynch, a resident of Milford, Michigan, has two occupations: poet and undertaker. In "The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade", he shatters our conception of an undertaker as wan, reserved, and staid, replacing it with one who is colorful, brazen, and whimsical. "The Undertaking" is not a dry, dismal book about death. It is a book about life and those who attend to the grieving, meditating on marriage, parenthood, Ireland, and medically-controlled passings.
Lynch’s commentaries have been recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio, RTE in Ireland and NPR. He is the recipient of grants and awards from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Michigan Council for the Arts, The Michigan Library Association, The Writers Voice Project, The National Book Foundation, The Arvon Foundation in Great Britain, and The Irish Arts Council.
He has read and lectured at universities and literary centers throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and across the United States. He is a regular presenter at professional conferences of funeral directors, hospice and medical ethics professionals, clergy, educators, and business leaders. He has been an Adjunct Professor in the graduate creative writing program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has appeared on C-SPAN, MSNBC, The Today Show, and the PBS-Bill Moyers Series, On Our Own Terms.
The book discussions and all Pageturners events are free and open to the public. The book is available at significant discount at the Schoolcraft College Bookstore. For more information about Pageturners’ future book selections and discussions, visit http://sites.google.com/site/scpageturners.
Schoolcraft College is a public, two-year college offering classes at the main campus in Livonia, Haggerty Road between Six and Seven Mile Roads; at the Radcliff Center in Garden City; and online at www.schooclraft.edu.