I know that, by all means, not all readers of Bilgrimage live on the west coast of the U.S. But a number of you do, and I've had the pleasure of meeting a number of you with whom I'd never have connected without the blog--fine folks and people I'm now privileged and happy to call friends.
For readers in California and Washington (and as a favor to Joelle Casteix, whose wonderful Worthy Adversary blog I've linked to Bilgrimage), I'd like to publicize the dates of the forthcoming (and fast-approaching) book tour for Michael D'Antonio and his very important book, Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal. I've linked to some of Michael's stellar commentary on the hierarchy's handling of the abuse crisis, and their gay-bashing, in the past--in this August 2012 piece on Cardinal Dolan and dancing with hacks, this February 2013 item on Vatican gay-baiting as a Catholic shame, and this posting last month on the new group of whistle-blowing priests and nuns.Here's how the press materials for the forthcoming book tour describe Mortal Sins:
In his new book, MORTAL SINS: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal (St. Martins) Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael D’Antonio delves deep into personalities, cases and conflicts of the biggest Catholic crisis since the Reformation. Featuring St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who has led the international legal effort for abuse victims, D’Antonio traces the rise of the victims’ movement through landmark court decisions and reveals how the Church failed to respond to abuse complaints and instead practiced systematic denial and cover-up.
Michael is a former Washington correspondent for the Portland Press Herald and a staff writer for Newsday, and the winner of an Alicia Patterson fellowship and First Amendment Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize. He has published in the New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Discover, and other publications. He has also written two Showtime films – "Deacons for Defense" and "Crown Heights," receiving the Humanitas Prize for the latter.
In addition, he has appeared on "60 Minutes," "Today," NPR’s "All Things Considered," the "Diane Rehm Show" and many other broadcast programs. His book The State Boys Rebellion was judged a “best book” of the year by the Chicago Tribune and the Christian Science Monitor and was a New York Times "editors pick."
And if you're living in California or Washington, you may have the good fortune to be able to attend one of the discussions of Mortal Sins at which Michael D'Antonio will be present. Here's a list of those events:
San Diego, CA: 26 June at Alliant University's Green Hall, 7 P.M.
Fullerton, CA: 27 June at Fullerton public library, 7 P.M.
Santa Barbara, CA: 28 June at Santa Barbara public library's Falkner Gallery, 7 P.M.
San Francisco, CA: 29 June at Mission Cultural Center Theater, 2:30 P.M.
Seattle, WA: 30 June at Town Hall, 7:30 P.M.
And for those of us who can't attend any of these gatherings, there's always the book itself to obtain and to read. I've linked to the Amazon page for it above.
