A Bridge Not a Wall

In the early, befuddling decades of the 21st century, we yearn for a mentor and guide: Someone adventuresome and wise yet relatable. Someone who has lived fully, with courage and yes, with love. Martha Talburt is such a navigator. A Bridge Not a Wall, her delightful, brave hybrid of art, poetry, and memoir, is the handbook for our times. Talburt leads us around the world -- from the suburban landscapes of family to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, with much wonder and joy in between. Nestled in the mix are moments of humor, tenderness, and loss as well as the fierce knowledge gained from those experiences. It's been said that some follow maps, while others create them. I think there's another kind of mapmaker -- that remarkable dreamer who shows us how to walk our own path. Martha Talburt has traveled through 80-plus years with an open, expansive heart. Her book is an extraordinary gift to family, to us all, that we might take up the journey, with a constellation of poems, reflections and artworks guiding us along the way.

-- Pamela Hart, author of the award-winning collection, Mothers Over Nangarhar