Local author and Kingston resident Marianne Leone will talk about her new release, “Five-Dog Epiphany,” at the Adams Center, 33 Summer Street, Kingston, on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m.
In her third memoir, “Five-Dog Epiphany: How a Quintet of Badass Bichons Retrieved Our Joy,” Leone writes a moving and sometimes funny exploration of grief and the mutual healing that can occur between rescue dogs and people, who have experienced soul-crushing loss. Leone and her husband, actor Chris Cooper, lost their only child suddenly in 2005. Jesse was seventeen, a straight-A student, and a brilliant poet, who was also a quadriplegic and nonverbal except with the assistance of a computer.
After six-year old Jesse miraculously blurted “dog” to Santa, Goody appeared on his bed on Christmas morning. Goody was followed by Lucky, Frenchy, Titi, and Sugar, all rescues adopted after Jesse’s passing. After Jesse’s death, Leone grew a tumor the size of her premature son at birth, her husband disappeared into dark acting roles, and Leone fainted during the filming of a scene in “The Sopranos,” where she was standing in front of her television son’s coffin. The novel is the story of a bereaved couple and a pack of rescue dogs finding their way to a new life, everyone licking their wounds, both corporal and spiritual, and rediscovering joy.
Leone is an actress, screenwriter, and essayist. Her other memoir, “Ma Speaks Up,” was published by Beacon Press in 2017. She had a recurring role on HBO’s, “The Sopranos,” and has appeared in films by David O. Russell, Larry David, John Sayles, and Martin Scorsese. Her essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, WBUR, and other publications. Her two other memoirs are titled, “Jesse: A Mother’s Story,” and “Ma speaks up: A first generation daughter talks back.”
You can learn more about Leone at marianneleonecooper.com. Books will be on sale following the author talk.
To register for this event, please contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or at smiller@kingstonma.gov.