Editor’s note: This event has been canceled.

Submitted by Griffin Bay Bookstore

A book talk at Griffin Bay Bookstore staff has been canceled. Susan L. Williams was to read from her book “Shades of Grief” at 7 p.m., Oct. 21.

“Shades of Grief: A Memoir,” recounts the author’s odyssey in the aftermath of a plane crash that killed her husband, the pilot and three of his closest friends. The memoir moves from the trauma of the crash into a shattered world of grief. Bereft of a religious foundation and unable to find answers in traditional grief self-help books, Williams begins a spiritual journey of the heart and mind. On the way, she explores Buddhism, psychics, out-of-body experience and treatment for PTSD. Her prior experience in theater arts lead her to portray a fully costumed character of grief and this, in turn, lead her to a deeper understanding of the role grief plays in her life. By traversing the landscape of Manassas, she experiences communion with those who, like her husband, suffered a sudden violent death and for those, who like herself, were left behind.

All these experiences and more eventually become landmarks for a story told with raw emotion, humor and metaphorical mind-scapes. The reader is exposed to a world where there are no rules or instruction manuals; a journey of the heart that leads the way into new experiences and a new understanding of one of life’s darkest experiences. Shades of Grief is an honest depiction of the depths that sorrow can take a soul and the twenty-five-year passage to understand and be at peace with the things that we get through but never get over.

“’Shades of Grief’ is a journey through the deepest, darkest, most painful emotion you can imagine after a loved one dies… Susan follows the light which becomes brighter and brighter, and at the end of the light she finds home, love and even happiness. – Janet Roberts, executive director of the Centering Corporation and Grief Digest.

“’Shades of Grief’ is a brilliant journey through the heart-opening complexities of grief. It teaches, comforts, and illuminates through powerful and elegant writing” – Janet Thomas, author of “Day Breaks Over Dharamsala,” and “The Battle in Seattle; The Story Behind and Beyond the Demonstrations.

Williams received a degree in art education from the University of Puget Sound and taught art in secondary school. She later moved to the San Juan Islands where, for thirty years, she owned and operated a small business. She has been active in theater as an actor, director, designer and educator, for over forty years and served as artistic director for San Juan Community Theatre, a performing arts center on San Juan Island.

As a professional artist, Williams opens her private studio once a year for the San Juan Island’s Studio Tour and is represented on the artists’ registry for the San Juan Island Museum of Art. Her sculptures and accompanying story “A Journey With Rabbits” were featured in Art Doll Magazine (Spring 2017). She is currently a member of the Friday Harbor Arts Commission. She is currently working on a book for ages 10-13, “Detective Louis Lapin and The River of No Return.”