UF Community Event to Spotlight Young Author’s Last Musings
Marina Keegan’s insightful essays and stories, posthumously collected and published in the New York Times bestseller, “The Opposite of Loneliness,” will be the focus of The University of Findlay’s free upcoming symposium to be attended by her parents, Tracy and Kevin Keegan.
University President Katherine Fell will be one of seven who will read selected Keegan works on Nov. 10 beginning at 7 p.m. in Winebrenner Theological Seminary. Students also will lead group discussions about some of the topics that her writing addresses, and the Keegan parents will sign books.
At age 22, shortly after graduating in May 2012 from Yale University where her farewell essay about college life struck a chord, Keegan died in a car accident. Her parents subsequently gathered and curated much of her written material for publication, and their appearances on national television shows and at venues throughout the nation are furthering their daughter’s messages.
“Do you wanna leave soon? No, I want enough time to be in love with everything… And I cry because everything is so beautiful and so short,” Keegan wrote in a poem she titled “Bygones.”
The Massachusetts native’s unfiltered philosophical musings, existential questions, activism and positive outlook are giving voice and direction to a generation of idealistic but concerned young people who, like those before them, are seeking purpose in their lives. But fans of Keegan’s work also say that it resonates with those of all ages.
“…Keegan was right to prod us all to reflect on what we seek from life, to ask these questions, to recognize the importance of passions as well as paychecks – even if there are no easy answers,” wrote New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.
The University Student Government Association, Marketing Club members, and the Office of Student Activities, Leadership Development and Commuter Services are inviting the community to read “The Opposite of Loneliness” for the Nov. 10 event. Books are available for borrowing at the Findlay-Hancock County Library and the University’s Shafer Library. Some copies will also be available for patron perusal at Coffee Amici, 328 S. Main St.; George House, 1041 N. Main St.; and Creative Hair Designs, 212 E. Sandusky St.
Along with Fell, other readers at the event will include Clay Parlette, Britney Closson, Brittany Cuffman, Mitchell Augenstein, Miranda Roehler and Katie Kohls.
More information about Marina Keegan can be found at http://theoppositeofloneliness.com/ on Twitter at @oppofloneliness, and on Facebook at “The Opposite of Loneliness.”