THE MIKE FILE events and interviews

I’ve never done so many readings and interviews for one of my books—surely testimony to the universality of our family’s story in The Mike File.  And the book is now available as an audiobook! I narrate, and I’ve included a special feature that I could not include in the printed text: clips of my family recordings from the 1950s.

Robin Young interviewed me for NPR’s “Here & Now” on August 30, 2023. Robin gave me the chance to think through what the book means to me now. (I guess that’s what the title of her show is all about!) Even after two years of interviews, I keep reaching new understanding, new insights.

In September 2023, I took Mike’s story back to Montana, where it began. I read at Wheatgrass Books in Livingston, at the Doig Center at MSU, and at the old B’Nai Israel synagogue in Butte (sponsored by Butte-Silver Bow Archives).

In Livingston, I returned to my mother’s hometown to speak on the same block where she met the man who became Mike’s father in 1941 (in the 1930s the family shop was just a few doors down—in what is now the Danforth Museum of Art— from where Wheatgrass Books is housed today).  

In Butte, I spoke under the sponsorship of the Butte-Silver Bow Archives. My great-uncle Myron Brinig was a Butte-raised novelist and a pioneer in Jewish-American and LGBTQ literature. I’m donating the correspondence between my family and Myron to the archive, along with a set of many of Myron’s long-out-of-print books. My mother was born here (and married here). Her  family home still stands on Granite Street, where my grandparents, Sol and Nancy Brinig, brought home their newborn daughter, Isabelle, 102 years ago. I read at B’Nai Israel Synagogue, dedicated in 1904 and very much a part of my family’s life in the Jewish community in those early decades of the 20th century. The memorial plaques on either side of the bimah are filled with my family’s names. What an emotional connection to circle back here after so many years.

The connection to MSU’s Ivan Doig Center in Bozeman is more mine than Mike’s. I was honored to speak in a venue named for one of the great writers of the American West. This House of Sky and Heart Earth are bedrock literature for our home territory. Many years ago, I had the chance to interview Ivan Doig for a travel article. Gallatin Valley Community Radio recorded my talk in Bozeman. You can listen here.

I’ve told Mike’s story—and mine—at bookstores, libraries, private social clubs, book groups, cideries, community lecture series, universities, and on public radio. I often partner with local mental health professionals; their ability to place Mike’s story in context adds a rich layer of contemporary experience to the presentation.

I’m on a roll presenting to Osher Lifelong programs across the West. I had an especially warm and conversational discussion with psychologist Lynne Cobb online for the Osher Institute at the University of Arizona. You can listen to our recorded talk here. In Spring 2023, I’ll be speaking via Zoom for Osher programs in Sedona, Mesa, and Sun Lakes, Arizona; Ft. Collins and Grand Junction, Colorado; and Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Members of the University of Utah’s Literature and Health Care discussion group at their Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities chose the book for their monthly meeting. And, each year, the senior writing students at Meeker High School in Colorado read The Mike File, and I Zoom into their classrooms to answer their questions. I’m happy to partner with other English teachers to do the same. It’s fascinating and humbling to talk with these bright and engaged students.

Please contact me if you’d like to schedule a reading or invite me to Zoom into your book group. I never tire of sharing Mike’s story.

You can link to interviews here:

Colorado Public Radio "Colorado Matters" host Ryan Warner paired me with Dr. Carl Clark, CEO of the Mental Health Center of Denver, who could comment on access to treatment today.

Kevin Simpson at the Colorado Sun interviewed me (while I was traveling in Guatemala!), and paired our conversation with an excerpt.

Utah Public Radio gave Doug Goldsmith, longtime executive director of The Children's Center, and I an hour to talk about the book and how families today deal with mental health issues.

WICN's stellar interviewer Mark Lynch and I had a great conversation on his show, "Inquiry." (WICN: the “Voice of Arts and Culture” in Central New England, broadcasts from Worcester).

The King's English, my home bookstore in Salt Lake City, recorded my virtual reading. My partner in conversation was child psychologist Doug Goldsmith,  who speaks to what Mike's life would have been like today. 

Find reviews and excerpts at: 

As I've told and retold my brother's story, he becomes more and more real. I can almost feel Mike standing next to me. I'm honored to have the chance to describe this feeling in this op-ed in the Los Angeles Times.

Mad In America gave the book a generous review. Rebecca Pyle goes deep in her review for 15 Bytes.  Pete Earley published an excerpt on his blog. The Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph ran a feature article. 

I always say there are two moments that fully complete a book project. The first time you hold the book in your hands. And the one reviewer who truly gets what you intended. Each is enormously satisfying.