We Share the Same Sky is the
account of author Elizabeth Mozley McGrady’s 2007 pilgrimage to New York City;
a pilgrimage that was of particular significance to her spirit, a journey to
right a life that was no longer her own.
Interspersed with the history
of both McGrady’s beloved home state of Alabama and her equally cherished yet
temporarily adopted home of New York City, We Share the Same Sky would easily
serve as a guide book to be carried in the worn backpack of a literary and
gastronomic tourist of either place.
There is much in this book to marinate over, be it the detailed accounts
of delectable meals in celebrated (and not so celebrated) New York restaurants
or at her Grandmother Libby’s table, the descriptions of breathtaking architecture
and scenery, the references to great literary works, or the reflections of the “inner consciousness” that cautions,
“You are not at peace because you are not as you should be.”
Through McGrady’s journey, we recognize how our
sense of place connects us to others, to our surroundings, and even to
ourselves. We are reminded that no
matter where we travel, simple things connect us all, be they food, religion,
family, history.
McGrady’s memoir is penned with intense
introspection balanced by self-deprecating humor. It is an excellent read. She will be at the GPL Local Author Day on
May 17, 10AM-3PM. I will be purchasing
my own copy of her book then, as the copy I’ve been reading belongs to the
library…
Author Elizabeth Mozley McGrady and I have crossed
paths before. We attended the same high
school in Etowah County over twenty-six years ago, she being two grades ahead
of me and friends with my older sister, making her a celestial being to us
underclass mortals. I knew her then as
Beth Mozley. She and I have, at times,
figuratively and literally walked in each other’s footsteps since then. We were recently brought together
face-to-face for the first time in so many long years through my dear friend
Dan Donaghy, who was visiting Gadsden from Connecticut again as our GPL writer
in residence for a series of poetry writing workshops and speaking
engagements. Dan and I are chums from
the days of Ithaca, NY. Beth and
her husband Travis, who currently live close to Gadsden, but not within spitting
distance, drove in on a rather dreary night to hear Dan’s reading at the Back
Forty Beer Co. And there, the pieces
fell into place. At the end of the
evening, I could not help but reflect on the rather serendipitous series of
circumstances that brought everyone together at that place, at that particular
time. But I tend to do that sort of
thing often.
