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Standing at the gravesite of their grandmother, three young children and their mother were asked to make a solemn promise that they would never, ever, put their Dad in a nursing home. Decades later, their father is deep in the trenches of vascular dementia, and they try to care for him and for their exhausted, burned out, elderly but determined mother. Then, on Christmas Day as the family gathers, Mom asks her daughter Bernadette, who is an ICU nurse, to seriously consider euthanasia to put Dad out of his daily misery. What follows is a brilliantly-written tale filled with wisdom and life, an unexpected page-turner. Essential reading for everyone with a family member suffering from dementia of any kind. Available from the independent bookseller bookshop.org and directly from Debra on her website at http://dliebhart.com/

Mary L. Grow’s beautifully rendered story Night Train to Odessa is set 100 years ago in Ukraine as it is torn apart by civil war and the Bolshevik revolution. Yet events could be mirror images of Ukraine now, of loss of all that is loved and familiar and the desperate need to flee certain death and horror overnight. I ask the author how she creates a novel so immersive, suspenseful and intimate and yet to bring lightness to even the most dire experiences the characters suffer. Mary L. Grow will be reading from Night Train to Odessa at Santa Fe’s Collected Works bookstore at 6:00 on Thursday, September 14th. Learn more about her now at marylgrow.com

Today, a delightful and fun chat with author and playwright Rosemary Zibart and director Nick Stofocik ahead of their long-awaited production City Mice. How does a playwright find a director and actors who can turn her long-nurtured seed idea and carefully-crafted script into a play ready for the audience and critics? What happened when Rosemary handed over City Mice to Nick? The answer may surprise you. We also clarify the reasons why Hollywood screenwriters and SAG actors are striking, and again that answer may not be what you think. City Mice will be playing at Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe for two weekends, August 3–5 and 10–12 at 7:30 with matinees on Sundays, August 6 and 13 at 2:00. city-mice.ticketleap.com

Take a deeply restful, nourishing journey today with Henry Shukman, meditation teacher, poet and spiritual director emeritus at Mountain Cloud Zen Center. Henry brings his intelligent, calming presence to our studios with his new book Original Love: The Four Inns on The Path to Awakening through which we glimpse a layer beyond the peace and mindfulness that meditation can bring. More than ever a simple meditation practice may help us reconcile today’s angst and divisiveness to offer a steadiness of clarity in our daily lives. Can our own inner calm affect those around us? Even five minutes a day may help, and perhaps this 23 minute podcast may initiate your inner journey along with Henry Shukman’s insightful words born of personal experience in Original Love.

You may be familiar with Haiku yet perhaps not Tanka another poetry form originating in pre-Buddhist Japan traditionally written and exchanged by lovers after their first union. A sweet note that emerges during today’s interview with Albuquerque Poet Laureate Emeritus Mary Oishi. Mary’s new collection, Sidewalk Cruiseship, is arranged in Tanka form and delights our hearts and sears our minds with her vision and perception. Mary’s decades of activist work in justice, her mentorship of queer youth and her love and knowledge of original blues music all bring her poetry alive and relevant to real life, tough and beautiful. Come and meet Mary Oishi in conversation with poet Michelle Otero at Collected Works, Tuesday May 7th at 6:00 pm.

Joined today by poet and musician Lee Underwood reading from his new, beautifully crafted volume, Riversong. Many poems are dedicated to his beloved wife of 50 years Sonia Crespi, his Lady of the Streams. Lee poignantly shares wisdom of their long relationship, how they forged and deepened their “marriage of opposites” through thick and thin. How loves endures and how the sweetness and power of the natural world soothes, comforts and inspired them both. A gentle interview with an octogenarian to sit beside and listen. Riversong published by Poetic Matrix Press poeticmatrix.com. Contact Lee for a signed copy at undrwd@sti.net

Continuing poetry month here on The Last Word with Santa Fe’s much loved Wayne Lee here in the KSFR studios accompanied by his cat. Well, Buddha’s Cat to be specific, the title of his brand new chapbook published this week, a collection dedicated to furry four-legged creatures of all species, from beloved companion animals to the wildest and most revered and even feared here in New Mexico and across the country. Wayne’s evocative writing simultaneously cracks open your heart, tickles your funny bone, and sends shivers down your spine as he reads with honest and deeply personal emotion forged with astute awareness and great love of our natural world. Wayne will be the featured spoken word artist this Saturday morning May 23rd at 10:30 at Chatter North at the Center of Contemporary Art (CCA) on the Old Pecos Trail. More at wayneleepoet.com

Author, journalist and co-founder of The Santa Fe International Literary Festival,Carmella Padilla, explores the intersection of art, culture and history here in NewMexico. Her skills, lifelong knowledge and passion place her in the perfect position to support and nourish many loved and respected local arts organizations and special events. Right now Carmella is working with Santa Fe Reads on their final Big Read event at Santa Fe Convention Center celebrating author Madeline Miller and her book Circe which takes place at 5:00 on Thursday, May 16th and is free and open to the public. The following evening is the opening of this year’s International Literary Festival. During our interview we discuss how the seeds of the Festival were planted and why Santa Fe is such a rich choice and fertile ground for those seeds to thrive and flower. Complete info on the Festival at www.sfinternationallitfest.org and a reminder that students, teachers and librarians can request a free ticket to a presentation of their choice.

On this episode of Community Matters, we explore how universal childcare is transforming life for New Mexico families and early childhood professionals with two leaders closest to the work. Dr. Hailey Heinz from the Early Childhood Education and Care Department and Deyanira Contreras from Kids Campus at Santa Fe Community College discuss the importance of expanding access, elevating quality, and building a stronger childcare workforce across the state.

It has been 38 years since Natalie Goldberg’s beloved breakthrough book Writing Down The Bones inspired tens of thousands of hesitant writers and seasoned authors. So I am honored that Natalie can join me today in person with Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice. Yet, “Empty,” you ask? How could one of New Mexico’s and the whole country’s most gifted and prolific writers struggle to find her creative voice after publishing at least fifteen books of poetry, Haiku and personal stories and teaching writing practice around the world ? It wasn’t writer’s block, reveals Natalie early in our interview. Writers block is something solid, entrenched, yet really it is fluid and movement of any measure, body and mind, can begin to free the stuckness. Writing on Empty is part memoir, part travel journal, part teaching, storytelling at its best, yet to categorize this book in any genre is to succumb to the image of something set in stone. 160 pages of evocative imagery, Natalie takes us from our sweetest leafy park to Abiquiu Lake and blessed parts of our loved nation in between. Read it over a couple of evenings or savor slowly. Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice. Published by St. Martins and available everywhere, especially at your local bookstores.