I am reading and re-reading the manuscript during copyediting and proofing. I want it to be smooth, compelling, and difficult to put down. One reader called it a “wonderful, terrible book.”
And sometimes the road seems to stretch out beyond all endurance. Because while I told myself I was on the homestretch, I now know that finishing this book will only be the beginning. The book is no good at all unless people read it.
I hope you will read it.
This is no time for false modesty. I will use this book to carry my simple message — that we should not be poisoning our children — on every webinar, on every podcast, in front of every audience I can find. I will write op-eds. I will continue to blog.
It is painful beyond all description.
But early this morning I got a message across time….
It’s simple really. And sometimes children understand that better than we do. Thank you, my darling.
Because beyond the rage, beyond the yearning for some morsel of justice, this has been a labor of love, not just for Katherine, not just for my surviving children, not just for other parents and children, but for all of humanity….
I know we are gravely flawed, but what redeems us is love. Maybe if we can love ourselves — and our common home, our living planet— a little better, just maybe we can all get through this together.
Writing can be a prayer, a remembrance, an incantation, a calling into being…
A book is always a message in a bottle, flung into time, near and far. And one is never sure how words will land or who will read it or when. But I know what certain books and certain messages that have traveled across time have meant to me, and I hope mine will mean something for you.
The book I have worked towards for more than 20 years, Poisoning Our Children, is now available for pre-order at https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/54124/poisoning-our-children?srsltid=AfmBOoom9b8VL_44YjXIzfJkCpIVzRaVnN1lcpFkbURbYYGufR4-avTi#book__reviews
Pre-orders are hugely important. They affect whether bookstores stock the book, how algorithms surface it, and how seriously publishers promote it. Your support matters more than you know.
All author proceeds will be donated to Environmental Health non-profits.
