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After an unconventional childhood that ended in the tragic death of her mother and the murder of her Alaskan mobster father, Kim Rich was left on her own at the young age of fifteen to fend for herself. Ever since then, she began a nearly lifelong pursuit in chasing what most others had-a normal life.
Rich tugs at your heartstrings as you follow her journey toward normalcy, from her teen years, freshly orphaned, through her high school years spent couch-surfing at local families' homes, then through her college years, a failed first marriage, and a rising career as a journalist. Through frank and down-to-earth storytelling, Rich also tells of her grandfather's kidnapping, a frightening health crisis, and a six-year attempt to have children.
Picking up right where her first memoir, Johnny's Girl, left off, A Normal Life recounts the author's vivid story of being an ordinary girl faced with extraordinary circumstances-at seemingly every turn in life-with grace, humility, and wit.
List of contents
Dedication
Neverland
Peaceful, Easy Feeling
The ‘Hey, Wow, Man’ School
‘Back to Nature’ is Hazardous to Your Health
A Warm Hat, a Whale, and a C in Chemistry
A Normal Life, Round One
The Right Stuff
New York, New York
The Writing Division
Circling the Center
Being Published
Grandpa and the Gypsies
It’s All Material
A Crossroads
A Normal Life, Round Two
Breast Cancer
When You Wish Upon a Star
About the author
Born in Hollywood and raised in Anchorage, Alaska,
Kim Rich has an MFA degree in writing from Columbia University and has taught at Alaska Pacific University. In her early career she worked as a journalist for the
Anchorage Daily News and published a series about her father that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Feature Reporting. An essayist, screenwriter, and creative writer, Rich now lives in Louisiana with her husband and three daughters.
A Normal Life is the follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir,
Johnny's Girl: A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up In Alaska's Underworld, which was later adapted into a Hallmark movie.
Summary
After an unconventional childhood that ended in the tragic death of her mother and the murder of her Alaskan mobster father, Kim Rich was left on her own at the young age of fifteen to fend for herself. Ever since then, she began a nearly lifelong pursuit in chasing what most others had—a normal life.
Rich tugs at your heartstrings as you follow her journey toward normalcy, from her teen years, freshly orphaned, through her high school years spent couch-surfing at local families’ homes, then through her college years, a failed first marriage, and a rising career as a journalist. Through frank and down-to-earth storytelling, Rich also tells of her grandfather’s kidnapping, a frightening health crisis, and a six-year attempt to have children.
Picking up right where her first memoir, Johnny’s Girl, left off, A Normal Life recounts the author’s vivid story of being an ordinary girl faced with extraordinary circumstances—at seemingly every turn in life—with grace, humility, and wit.
Foreword
- Author events in Alaska and elsewhere in the U.S., cities to come.
- Media interviews based on timely news hooks including adoption, infertility, overcoming childhood neglect, growing up with a parent with mental illness, family life in organized crime, etc.
- Reviews and excerpts in trade, national, women’s, and family media.
- Featured at ALA, BEA, PNBA, and MPIBA conferences.
Additional text
Feature article: "In One Hour, I Learned I Was Adopting — & Pregnant With Twins."
