
Martha Brosio, author of The Last Ten Days - Academia, Dementia, and the Choice to Die: A Loving Memoir of Richard A Brosio, PhD
Milwaukee-based author Martha Brosio visits Boswell with her heartrending memoir of love, scholarship, dignity, courage, and the choices one is forced to make when given the devastating diagnosis of a terminal illness. Cosponsored by University of Michigan Club of Milwaukee - The Last Ten Days is their book club choice book.

Determined to have a dignified death at the time and in the manner of his own choosing, Richard hastened his death two years after his diagnosis by voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, seeking only palliative and hospice care until the end. Brosio’s book highlights Richard’s teaching, writing, and their life together. Sad, yet inspirational, it is a joyful celebration of their lives together. Martha Brosio is an author from Milwaukee. She graduated from the University of Michigan.

with Krista Eastman, author of The Painted Forest, and J Tyler Friedman, author of Among the Wonders of the Dells: Photography, Place, Tourism




Jon M Sweeney, author of St. Francis of Assisi: His Life, Teachings, and Practice
Jon M Sweeney is a scholar and author as well as a biographer of St. Francis and translator of his writings. He is author of over thirty books, including The Pope Who Quit, and The Pope's Cat. On this evening, cohosted by Eat, Drink, and Be Catholic, Sweeney offers an introduction to St. Francis's life and teachings of faith.

Sweeney is one of the most popular interpreters of St. Francis, and draws attention to the emphasis placed on the importance of living a simple, truthful life, making Francis’s spiritual practices just as impactful and relevant in the modern day as they were centuries ago. St. Francis is the perfect guide for anyone looking to learn more about the saint or hoping to incorporate his wisdom into their own spiritual lives.

Cynthia Anderson, author of Home Now: How 6000 Refugees Transformed an American Town, in conversation with Jamilo Maalim
Author and journalist Cynthia Anderson tells the moving story of the refugees in Lewiston, Maine, a chronicle of struggle, transformation, and who belongs in America. She'll be in conversation with Jamilo Maalim, who is featured in the book. Cosponsored by Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.

From Booklist: "Along with even-handed reporting and sympathetic characterizations, Anderson weaves in personal anecdotes and updates about her mother, a Lewiston exile considering a homecoming. Topics range from trick-or-treating and soccer championships to acts of anti-Muslim terrorism and female genital mutilation. There are happy endings, horror stories, unresolved issues, and joyous breakthroughs. Readers will find lots to think about."

Now Friday, November 1, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Carol Anshaw, author of Right After the Weather, in conversation with Jane Hamilton
Carol Anshaw is the author of Carry the One and Aquamarine. She has received the Ferro-Grumley Award, the Carl Sandburg Award, and a National Book Critics Circle Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. For this event, she'll be in conversation with Wisconsin's beloved writer Jane Hamilton.

From Connie Ogle in Newsday: "...what happens when a traumatic event changes things forever? How do we move forward when the ground under our feet shifts with every step? Anshaw examines that question with her typical intelligence, compassion and insight in Right After the Weather, her fifth novel. She explored similar issues in her terrific Carry the One, in which a group of siblings and their friends are involved in a fatal traffic accident on the night of a wedding. Here, she expands her scope, not focusing merely on the aftermath of a single, terrible incident, but letting it play out against a bigger, existential threat."

Saturday, November 2, 6 pm, at Boswell:
Aaron Cohen, author of Move on Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power, with DJ Eric Blowtorch
Aaron Cohen, who teaches at City Colleges of Chicago and is author of Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace, now tells the remarkable story of the explosion of soul music in Chicago. The evening will also feature soul records spun by Cohen and DJ Eric Blowtorch.

Soul music also accompanied the rise of African American advertisers and the campaign of Chicago’s first black mayor. This empowerment was set in stark relief by the social unrest roiling in Chicago and across the nation: as Chicago’s homegrown record labels produced rising stars singing songs of progress and freedom, Chicago’s black middle class faced limited economic opportunities and deep-seated segregation, all against a backdrop of nationwide deindustrialization. Cohen shows us how soul music became the voice of inspiration and change for a city in turmoil.
Over at Chicago Magazine, Mark Guarino breaks down some of the lessons of Cohen's book.
More upcoming events on the Boswell upcoming events page.
Photo credits
Jon M Sweeney by Maurice Wolf
Cynthia Anderson by Sally Pasley Vargas