The first hardbound copy of Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family just arrived at my door. I immediately unwrapped the dust jacket to peek at the lovely naked book inside: gold lettering on a burgundy cloth spine. Early reviews also celebrate the birth of the book, from Kirkus (“An insightful examination of one way that religious beliefs are shaping American families”) to Booklist. If you pre-ordered a copy, it should ship to you on the official publication date, just five weeks from now, on October 22.
My dream now is that the book will inspire a national conversation around the fact that many interfaith families are choosing both religions. This year, I will travel the country to reveal my findings and to hear your interfaith family stories–at bookstores, college campuses, seminaries, churches, synagogues, community centers, and interfaith groups. I hope to meet you, my blog readers, at some of these book launch events (for event updates, go to my author website, susankatzmiller.com):
Washington DC, Sunday October 27 at 5pm, Hometown book-launch, at Politics & Prose
New York, NY, Wednesday October 30 at 7pm, Barnes & Noble (82nd & Broadway)
Kensington, MD, Sunday November 10 at 10am, Interfaith Gathering followed by book talk, Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington
Brookline MA, Wednesday November 13 at 7pm, Brookline Booksmith
Weston MA, Thursday November 14. Book talk with refreshments, limited to the first 100 people to RSVP, co-sponsored by the venerable Weston-Wayland Interfaith Action Group (WWIAG), Weston Library
Cambridge MA, Sunday November 17 at 1pm, in conversation with fellow Beacon Press author Chris Stedman, author of Faithiest, memoir of an atheist and interfaith activist. At the new Humanist Hub, at the Humanist Community at Harvard
Greenwich CT, Thursday March 13 at 7pm, at the Jewish Community Center without walls, JCC Greenwich
Los Gatos CA, Wednesday March 19 at 7pm, panel on “Two Religions, One Family, a Million Questions,” with the authors of Mixed-Up Love, a memoir co-written by a rabbi and a Catholic writer, raising a Jewish child. Addison-Penzak JCC, Silicon Valley ($7 for non-members)
Corte Madera CA, Thursday March 20 at 7pm, Book talk and reception, Book Passage (Marin County)
(At all of these events, books will be available for purchase and signing. Contact Travis Dagenais at [email protected] to set up a new event near you. Media and bloggers, contact Travis for a review copy.)
For the hundreds of families who contributed to this book, through survey responses and long interviews, this is the moment to celebrate–and to stand up and explain the joy of being both to the rest of the world. And for those who are curious (or uncomfortable or upset) about the idea of educating interfaith children in two faiths, this is the moment to engage in the conversation. Why are parents making this controversial choice? And how do children feel about it? I look forward to lively discussions on these questions, with all of you.
(For more book news, follow me on Twitter @beingboth, or Facebook).
