Sunday, April 11, 2010

KELLY CORRIGAN DAY: LIFT & THE MIDDLE PLACE--IT'S A "WIN BOTH" GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
WELCOME TO
KELLY CORRIGAN DAY

ABOUT KELLY CORRIGAN...AUTHOR, MOTHER, INSPIRATION!

When you go to Kelly Corrigan's VOICE Bio, you find what you see here. All of it is true and if you don't know who Kelly Corrigan is, this may get you started, while I may ask, "Where have you been?"

Kelly Corrigan is the author of The Middle Place, a New York Times bestseller. She is a YouTube sensation whose beloved “Transcending” video was sent woman-to-woman to more than 4 million viewers. She is also a contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine and Good Housekeeping, and is the founder of www.circusofcancer.org. She lives outside San Francisco with her husband and children.

When you go to Kelly Corrigan's personal website, you will find this about Kelly in her own words and you start to know her a little better. I also thank that website for use of some of the photos and graphics.

Some things you wouldn’t know about me from my books:

I’m working on a screenplay, a comedy about an old storybook theme park near my house. My friend, Betsy Barnes, is writing it with me and my other friend, Tammy Stedman, is consulting (she won an Oscar for a short film she produced the same year American Beauty won for Best Picture.) We’ve been at it since the summer of 2008 and some days, it seems like it’s almost finished. (Others, it feels like making beds and putting away dishes…just another thing I need to do every day.)

I love live performances of almost any kind, especially music but also lectures and readings and plays. Some favorites: Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Amos Lee, Patty Griffin, Mike Errico and listening to Anne Lamott or Marilynne Robinson read anything.

I worked in non-profits for ten years. That decade created my worldview, which goes: people are struggling; make yourself useful. My big project is Notes & Words, a series featuring musicians and writers on stage together to benefit Children’s Hospital of Oakland, where my daughter was treated for Meningitis.

I went to three great schools: Radnor High School, where Dr. Mary Anne Capa showed me what actual scholarship looks like; The University of Richmond, which was a whole lot of fun and introduced me to some of my all-time favorite people; and San Francisco State University (for a Masters in Literature) where I was humbled by 1,000 page-a-week reading assignments and floored that for $600 a semester, I could sit in weekly seminars with professors like Michael Krasny (host of KQED Forum) and Bruce Avery.

Greenie is still Greenie, glad-handing, coaching lacrosse, clicking his heels. He turns 80 on March 30 and my brothers and I are planning the mother of all parties. The fact of his survival is something I can never quite get over.

Other projects I’m a part of are:

Notes & Words, a series of events featuring musicians and writers on stage at The Fox Theater to benefit Children’s Hospital of Oakland. (If you’re local, please save May 6.)

Y Scholars, a program to help highly motivated high school students go to college.

www.circusofcancer.org a web site to teach you how to love someone through cancer

www.greatergoodparents.org a web site to help us all be more deliberate and informed parents


Interesting and perhaps you learned something new about Kelly. However, it is when you read Kelly Corrigan's books, THE MIDDLE PLACE and now LIFT that you really meet Kelly Corrigan. When you watch her videos, and I have included two of my favorites, you know her better still. I am not ashamed to say, although I have never met her and only read her books and reread her books and given them as gifts, that I respect, admire, and actually even think I love Kelly Corrigan for all that she has given to me and so many others!

I say that because her words always bring me back home. They bring me to being me and stopping and enjoying a moment in life and remembering what is really important. After you read about Kelly's books and my reviews, and hopefully win or buy copies of both, I'd be interested to see if you don't feel much the same way about this phenomenal woman. Thank you, Kelly, for all of this. Thank you, Molly, from Hyperion and VOICE, for the help and books to give away, and the chance to say something special about a very special author.















ABOUT THE BOOK...THE MIDDLE PLACE:


For Kelly Corrigan, family is everything. At thirty-six, she had a marriage that worked, two funny, active kids, and a weekly newspaper column. But even as a thriving adult, Kelly still saw herself as the daughter of garrulous Irish-American charmer George Corrigan. She was living deep within what she calls the Middle Place—“that sliver of time when parenthood and childhood overlap”—comfortably wedged between her adult duties and her parents’ care. But Kelly is abruptly shoved into coming-of-age when she finds a lump in her breast--and gets the diagnosis no one wants to hear. When George, too, learns that he has late-stage cancer, it is Kelly’s turn to take care of the man who had always taken care of her—and to show us a woman who finally takes the leap and grows up.

Kelly Corrigan is a natural-born storyteller, a gift you quickly recognize as her father’s legacy, and her stories are rich with everyday details. She captures the beat of an ordinary life and the tender, sometimes fractious moments that bind families together. Rueful and honest, Kelly is the prized friend who will tell you her darkest, lowest, screwiest thoughts, and then later, dance on the coffee table at your party.

Funny, yet heart-wrenching, The Middle Place is about being a parent and a child at the same time. It is about the special double-vision you get when you are standing with one foot in each place. It is about the family you make and the family you came from—and locating, navigating, and finally celebrating the place where they meet. It is about reaching for life with both hands—and finding it.

MY REVIEW OF THE MIDDLE PLACE:

THE MIDDLE PLACE is a story that Kelly Corrigan has shared with everyone who is fortunate enough to have read it. It is a story about what family means to her. The title is one that made me think as I hadn’t thought about my life in this way before. That middle place is where you are in life when you still are your parents’ child but at the same time you are a wife to your husband and mother to your child. You can easily slip into either role until something happens to change that delicate balance. In Kelly’s case, it came regrettably in the form of cancer.

With Kelly finding a lump on her breast and all that went along with it, as it did indeed turn out to be cancer, she needs to be her parents’ child and soak in the love and care she will need. However, she doesn’t realize that she will not be alone in this battle as her father also has a serious form of cancer that recurs more than once. Suddenly, Kelly and all the Corrigans find their lives in a very different place.

Although Kelly recounts the battle that she and her father shared, this isn’t really a book about cancer. Rather it is about relationships and family and particularly the special interaction between Greenie, as Kelly’s dad is known, and Kelly. Lovey, as Kelly’s mom is called, is the staunch support system for them both. Throughout the shared battle, Kelly contemplates life and focuses much of her effort on being sure her dynamic and beloved father gets the best care as she deals with her own treatment. At some point in here, the middle place shifts, as it does with us all, and the child becomes the parent.

Kelly is surely her father’s daughter as both are exceptional storytellers, and throughout the book, she also shares entertaining stories of growing up from her first boyfriends and early travels to the time she met and married her husband, from her efforts to be a success in her business and as a writer to the birth of her children. And so this treasured book about relationships and family, THE MIDDLE PLACE, shows us that bad things can happen to good people but they are still that person and still need their parents, their friends, and their family to encourage and support each other. Kelly Corrigan has done all that and more and with this book, she graciously shares it with us all.

ABOUT THE BOOK....LIFT:

Written as a letter to her children, Kelly Corrigan’s Lift is a tender, intimate, and robust portrait of risk and love; a touchstone for anyone who wants to live more fully. In Lift, Corrigan weaves together three true and unforgettable stories of adults willing to experience emotional hazards in exchange for the gratifications of raising children.

Lift takes its name from hang gliding, a pursuit that requires flying directly into rough air, because turbulence saves a glider from “sinking out.” For Corrigan, this wisdom—that to fly requires chaotic, sometimes even violent passages—becomes a metaphor for all of life’s most meaningful endeavors, particularly the great flight that is parenting.

Corrigan serves it up straight—how mundanely and fiercely her children have been loved, how close most lives occasionally come to disaster, and how often we fall short as mothers and fathers. Lift is for everyone who has been caught off guard by the pace and vulnerability of raising children, to remind us that our work is important and our time limited.

Like Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea, Lift is a meditation on the complexities of a woman’s life, and like Corrigan’s memoir, The Middle Place, Lift is boisterous and generous, a book readers can’t wait to share.

MY REVIEW OF LIFT:

LIFT is not only personally treasured by me because it is the amazing Kelly Corrigan’s second book, but because I have read it and am writing about it within days of my own son becoming a father for the first time. The day you begin to raise your own children, you will wonder about what part of what you are doing will your child be able to remember and take with them as they grow. What are the moments that are so special to you as a parent that your child will never even remember?

Kelly has written a book to her daughters, Georgia and Claire, and it comes from her heart and will go straight to yours. It is written like a love letter to the girls so that they may look back at it throughout their lives and understand how it helped to make Kelly who she is as their mom and what she most wished for them as her children. It is a short book but filled with wisdom, emotions, amusement, and even sarcasm as she tells of the things she so wants for her girls and why she did some of the things she did as they were growing up. After battling cancer, Kelly has taken this on in what may be an effort to be sure that no matter what happens, her daughters will have memories to treasure when perhaps the little events while growing up are forgotten.

LIFT is filled with simple tales of wit, passion, sincerity, and emotion. With examples such as this one that I especially loved when she writes to the girls how “my default answer to everything is no.” But, then she confesses by telling them, “What you probably wouldn’t believe is how much I want to say yes.” These are the types of things that Kelly wants her daughters to know and be able to look back on. It is a marvelous idea and one that every parent, especially when they are still young enough, could do for their children.

Two important memories of Kelly’s, and for her daughters, are the ones she records about Meg and Kathy. Meg is single and the dearest and best person Kelly knows. Meg would be a great mother and Kelly tells about how she helped to make Meg aware of this and to try and fulfill the desire of being a mother even if it is a single mother. Kelly tells about what Meg went through and in the end of the book, we find out what happened. And with Kathy, a friend who lost her son Aaron in a car accident, Kelly explains how Kathy wants to talk about Aaron and keep his spirit alive because he was such a life force and deserves to be remembered for all he did. Kelly writes about Aaron so that her daughters can learn from it and “because I want you to live longer than he did.”

The title, LIFT, relates to hang gliding. When Kelly’s friends talk about the thermal lift with the turbulence that can be deadly, they go on to explain that it happens to be “the only way to get altitude”. And so, Kelly is able to share with readers that our lives will always involve risks but when we find the patches of “turbulence” we will get through it and be able to fly even higher than before.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO MOLLY AND THE GOOD FOLKS
AT HYPERION BOOKS AND VOICE, I HAVE
TWO SETS OF KELLY CORRIGAN'S BOOKS
TO GIVE AWAY. SEE HOW YOU CAN
WIN BOTH BOOKS BELOW!



--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:
+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING ABOUT KELLY CORRIGAN AT HER WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON EITHER LIFT OR THE MIDDLE PLACE AND WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK FROM WHAT YOU READ ABOVE IN THE DESCRIPTION AND/OR MY REVIEW. IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT ON BOTH BOOKS, ENTER SEPARATELY AND YOU WILL RECEIVE TWO ENTRIES!

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON EITHER THE VIDEO OF LIFT OR THE VIDEO OF THE MIDDLE PLACE AND WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS WERE ABOUT THE VIDEO. IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT ON BOTH VIDEOS, ENTER SEPARATELY AND YOU WILL RECEIVE TWO ENTRIES!

+1 MORE ENTRY: ENTER TO WIN THE LUMBY SERIES OF BOOKS BY STARTING HERE SO YOU CAN BE SURE AND ENTER IN ALL THE REQUIRED PLACES. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS, STATE IT HERE OR ELSE COME BACK AND COMMENT AFTER YOU DO.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST,
APRIL 30!


GOOD LUCK

63 comments:

Colleen Turner said...

I found out from her website that she really enjoys all types of live performance.
Thanks,
Colleen
candc320@gmail.com

Colleen Turner said...

Do not shun me...but I have never read anything by Kelly Corrigan! I am now fascinated to read her books though, although it sounds like you might need to read the books with some tissues. While I am not technically "in the middle" yet, I have seen my parents go through that and I saw how stressful and emotional the process can be. Wit teenagers and elderly parents alike fighting your authority (sorry mom and dad!) you have to push on and take care of everyone. I would like to see how she did this and pass on the book to my mom if I get it.
Thanks,
colleen
candc320@gmail.com

Colleen Turner said...

I entered the Lumby contest!
Thanks,
Colleen
candc320@gmail.com

Colleen Turner said...

Lift sounds more like where I am in my life. I have a young son, and until I had him I didn't understand my parents' tendencies to protect me so fiercely (which I interpreted as smothering). Now that I have a son of my own, I sometimes look at him and think of all the things that can harm him in life and try to think how I can solve all his problems. I know this isn't the case and I will need to let him go to make his own mistakes and grow up to be the man he will be, but I don't know how to exactly do that (he is only for so I have some time!).
Thanks,
Colleen
candc320@gmail.com

Colleen Turner said...

Oh my God why didn't you warn me I needed tissues just to watch the videos!!! Watching the video for The Middle Place I bawled why I thought of the special women in my life who have been there for me during the good and bad times, and the women I have been there for. We have seen parents get sick and die, children get sick and recover and marriages develop, swell, deflate and end (we have also see them struggle and keep going, but no one wants to brag about a surviving marriage to someone whos marriage has died). I wanted to call all my friends and loved ones and tell them I love them! I would love this book!
Thanks for the lethargic cry!
Colleen
candc320@gmail.com

Colleen Turner said...

I watched the video for Lift while my son jumped on the couch beside me...I fought the urge to yell and watch the video, which ended up making me want to grab him and hold him close. There is nothing easy about raising kids: it is scary, frustrating and brain-numbing at time. It is also so rewarding and loving. Thank you for sharing these books and I so hope I win!
Thanks,
Colleen
candc320@gmail.com

Pamela Keener said...

From Kelly's website I thought this quote says a lot about the author. "People are struggling, Make yourself useful.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Pamela Keener said...

I have not yet read The Middle Place yet I have heard so much about it and has been on my wish list. I love the inspirational message of the book. Family is most important.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Pamela Keener said...

Although I have no children I have plenty of neices and nephews. I love the fact that she gives her girls insights into life's lessons.
I love the fact that she includes two other women and their stories.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Pamela Keener said...

I love the inspirational message of the video for The Middle Place.
I love the gathering pictures of friends and families throughout the years. Kelly is someone I would love to know personally I think she tells it like it is.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Pamela Keener said...

I have entered to win The Lumby Series.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Pamela Keener said...

I love the fact that Kelly is reading to her girls from Lift in the video. The piano set was also endearing.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Linda Kish said...

She is scheduled for the Today show on 4/29/2010

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

traveler said...

I have read The Middle Place and thought it was wonderful and inspiring. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

traveler said...

Kelly Corrigan is definitely someone to be admired. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

traveler said...

I entered to win The Lumby Series. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

Linda Kish said...

My computer ate my first 2 answers so I will re-enter them as best as I can. If they show up, I apologize.

She is appearing on the Today show of April 29th.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

These books sound funny at points but very real. I have put them on my buy list just in case I don't win them.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

traveler said...

The Lift Video demonstrates how Kelly and her daughters interact. This is so important in daily life and makes a family unit strong and long lasting. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

Linda Kish said...

The video for The Middle Place is a tear-jerker. I loved what she said.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

I did enter all of the Lumby giveaways.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

I thought the Lift video was very sweet.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Wickdogg said...

I see she has reading questions for book clubs which is nice to get discussions started

wickdogg at gmaildot com

Wickdogg said...

I was in the middle place until my parents died and found it interesting to look at it that way

wickdogg at gmaildot com

Wickdogg said...

I know when you have kids we always say just wait, you'll see but it is true, they won't remember many of the little things so I think that book for her daughters is a great idea


wickdogg at gmaildot com

Wickdogg said...

The Middle Place video was so right on but also choked me up

wickdogg at gmaildot com

Wickdogg said...

I found her way of relating to the girls so laid back and nice in the video

wickdogg at gmaildot com

dag888888 said...

Kelly Corigan is part of the Notes & Words project, a series of events featuring musicians and writers on stage at The Fox Theater to benefit Children’s Hospital of Oakland.

dag888888[at]yahoo[dot]com

dag888888 said...

The Middle Place is something I can relate to, being in the same place as Kelly.

dag888888[at]yahoo[dot]com

dag888888 said...

As a parent to a daughter, I can totally relate to Lift as well. I would love to read Kelly's stories.

dag888888[at]yahoo[dot]coom

Sue said...

Kelly just had a birthday party for her dad's 80th birthday. Thanks for the giveaway.

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

Sue said...

I loved The Middle Place. I loved Kelly's writing and her and her dad's amazing story. Thanks for the review of it.

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

Alyce said...

I liked reading about the projects that she is a part of - some were to help high schoolers go to college and music & writers events that benefit a children's hospital. Lots of good stuff.

akreese (at) hotmail (dot) com

holdenj said...

Her website mentions again this storybook theme park near where she grew up. Sounds interesting!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

I didn't get a Middle Place of my own, and I really got chills reading about it. Would love to read the complete book.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

I have already entered the massive Lumby contest! Can't wait to see how it turns out!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

Lift looks like a winner. As a parent, (and from your review and part of the excerpt I read on her site) I can sure relate to some of those moments.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I love that she's writing a screenplay, a comedy about an old storybook theme park!
june_spirit2628 at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said...

About The Middle Place, I love that she parallels her journey with her Dad's.
june_spirit2628 at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I love that she wrote "Lift" with her daughters in mind, writing what she would like them to know someday
june_spirit2628 at hotmail dot com

Misusedinnocence said...

I think it's cool that she is writing a screenplay!

misusedinnocence@aol.com

Anonymous said...

I found it interesting that she worked for ten years in the nonprofit community. I totally agree with her reasons.
debp
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

On the middle place, I like that she talks about how she is dealing with breast cancer. I have a lump that the doctors saw, and won't do anything about. I know how scary it can be.
debp
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

Lisa Richards/alterlisa said...

I don't know if I could bear to read these books or not. My husband was diagnosed with lymphoma 2 years ago and though, thankfully at this time, other than a month of radiation and the excruciating waiting between a PET scan and hearing the results, symptom free. Maybe later I would be able to appreciate them but right now I take each day as it comes, enjoy it and don't read, watch, or dwell on the what ifs.

alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

She works for a non profit for 10 years and is writing a screenplay.
Both great things! good Luck with the screenplay.
I liked to be entered to win.

chirth7@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

THE MIDDLE PLACE
I to lost a parent to cancer, My dad was only 47 and he had brain cancer. Thankfully I do still have my Mother and my wonderful Husband. I'd like to read the book. The premise sounds good, It might remind me to spend more time with the people I love and not take them for granted. +1

chirth7@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I ENTERED TO WIN THE LUMBY SERIES OF BOOKS +1

chirth7@yahoo.com

Annmarie Weeks said...

I see that the author worked in non-profits for ten years. As an "alum" of the Red Cross, I give kudos to anyone who works in non-profits!

Annmarie Weeks said...

I have not read either book yet, but the Middle has been on my "to read" list since I first heard of it. It looks wonderful. I'm glad to see the author was able to infuse humor into such an emotional issue!

Annmarie Weeks said...

This is the first I've heard of Lift...and it definitely looks like a great book for me. Motherhood has changed so much in my life, and has shown me a deeper love than I ever could have imagined!

annmarieweeks at verizon dot net

Aik said...

I found out from her website that she worked in non-profits for ten years.

aikychien at yahoo dot com

Aik said...

I think Lift is a special book that is ought to be treasured by everyone!

aikychien at yahoo dot com

The Girl from the Ghetto said...

Not only have I wanted to read The Middle Place for years, but after visiting Ms. Corrigan's website I found out that she worked for non-profits for ten years. I have a degree in non-profit management, and desperatly want to find a job in the field. I volunteer my time now for two non-profits, and every single person I've ever met in the field is a wonderful soul. This tells me even more that I have to read both of these books.

Plus, she is working on a screenplay, which I think is pretty cool.

I would DIE AND GO TO HEAVEN if I won these books.

The Girl from the Ghetto said...

From your review of Lift I learned about the great parenting moments, the reasons why being a mom can be such a wonderful thing. I'm not able to have kids, but I'm a good stepmom to both my kids, but especially my Autistic stepson, who also has a host of other medical conditions. When he rarely tells me how much he appreciates what I do for him or that he loves me, it is like the best thing ever. Many days our life is hard, and I like the idea of a book that shows us how to find solace in those precious moments.

The Girl from the Ghetto said...

From your review, I learned a little more about The Middle Place - how it deals with breast cancer. I just knew it dealt with cancer and being in your 30s. My sister-in-law has breast cancer right now and is around the same age as the character, so it is a story I'm familiar with and would love to read about. Our family is having trouble handling it, so it could be a lesson for us all, as it sounds like a book I could recommend to my mother-in-law, a survivor herself who has major guilt in passing on the disease to her only daughter.

The Girl from the Ghetto said...

In The Middle Place video, I enjoyed her little jokes about vodka and running over with food, as well as her glasses, which are so cute. Plus, I just enjoyed hearing her talk about the book in general. I love it when authors post videos of them reading their books or talking about their books.

The Girl from the Ghetto said...

First of all, Hearts and Souls takes me back to my own childhood, so it was a pleasure seeing her adorable daughters playing it on their family piano.

It was also nice seeing a guitar in her home (I had one once, could never teach myself to play like Eddie Van Halen, so I gave it up!) as well as hearing Kelly speak about the earlier changes little girls go through when they begin to grow up. I didn't know my stepdaughter when she was a 3rd grader, but I know what Kelly means, once 6th grade came, my stepdaughter became a completly different person, a girl who cared about popularity and decided since her friends don't read, she'd read less.

MRWriter said...

I like that she worked in non-profit for 10 years and is currently co-writing a screenplay. You go girl!

AlexDean03@yahoo.com

MRWriter said...

Her bestselling book, "The Middle Place" sounds like a moving and thoughtful personal story about still being a child to her parents and a mother to her own children while battling cancer. That her father is also dealing with cancer just makes it all that more touching.

AlexDean03@yahoo.com

MRWriter said...

No pun intended...but I think Lift sounds very uplifting. I like how Kelly Corrigan examines her role as a mother against her own experiences as a child. It sounds like history can repeat itself (and that's not always a bad thing).

AlexDean03@yahoo.com

Colleen Turner said...

BONUS ENTRY! I am an official fan on your FB page.
candc320@gmail.com

Jenna said...

The video that goes with The Middle Place made me cry. Im not yet there (being unmarried, childless, and living in that inbetween transitional stage) but I watched that video and wanted to be there. I know someday I will have what Kelly is describing (and what I grew up watching in my mother).

papajm25@gmail.com

Jenna said...

I enjoyed the video for Lift. I cant relate (being 25 and a 'kid' myself still) but I do teach, so I am surrounded by children and my heartstrings are always tugged at.

papajm25@gmail.com

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