Marilyn & Me: The Woodcutter and the Nun

A former nun and a woodcutter, both recently divorced with six kids between them, fall in love. How can this possibly work? "It wasn't until writing the memoir Marilyn & Me that a long-hidden personal style emerged in my life and work. Two years ago I started writing in spiral notebooks a story that turned into a fiery memoir of two people who are so different from one another that it takes an act of God to bring them together. A big part of Marilyn is her connection to the Benedictine Order. She was in the convent for fifteen years before leaving for life on the outside. The mystical of the Mother Church is what Marilyn is used to, while mine is wild and drags me into supernatural experiences that pierce my soul. I get into this because it turns out none of them were random; they were part of the divine guidance system that brought us together. When I went by to see about renting a room from a woman in San Diego, we'd have thirty seconds out of 50 years of life in which to connect. On this hinged my survival, and maybe hers. This is an intense story about two people who were born to get together again, and how they linked up through a string of improbably events over a half century. It celebrates the courage and goodness of those involved in bringing them together, including the bad guys. Without them we'd've never met." -- Jack Underhill