Thursday, June 16 at 6:00 pm in the Marc Jacobs Reading Room

Join author and artist Anne Ierardi as she shares her new memoir Coming Alive and speaks about the process of writing a memoir. The event will take place in the Library’s Marc Jacobs Reading Room on Thursday, June 16 at 6:00 pm.

While standing on the seminary altar in Cambridge next to the first ordained Episcopal woman priest, Anne Ierardi was touched by the Spirit with an extraordinary call to ordination. In her inspiring and engaging memoir, Coming Alive, Ierardi writes of her efforts to honor her identity as a Catholic woman while integrating her call to the Protestant ministry. Along the way she invites us into her Italian family, studies art in Italy, and comes out in Boston. She falls in love with a doctor at an astrology party, and together they birth a healing ministry, bringing together people of diverse beliefs and backgrounds. Ierardi recounts her many callings to live as an artist, counselor, and minister while facing challenges in the early days of gay, feminist, and religious change. A story of courage, persistence, and authenticity, Coming Alive will speak to people of all ages and experiences, providing hope and possibilities for living and loving well.

Anne Ierardi is a writer, painter, and minister.  She has studied and shown her work throughout the local art community, including at Castle Hill, PAAM, and the Fine Arts Work Center. Anne also cofounded Healthsigns Center on Cape Cod, a sanctuary for spiritual guidance, contemplative worship, and creative gatherings.