Former Desert Sun reporter and author Maggie Downs will participate Wednesday evening in a virtual conversation about topics touched on in her new book, including travel, memory, grief, fear and family.
Downs, who lives in Palm Springs, will appear over Zoom video conferencing during the latest installation of Arts & Letters, a speaker series hosted by the UC Riverside, Palm Desert campus.
The author’s book, “Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime,” was published this month by Counterpoint Press and chronicles her journey coping with the loss of her mother through travel.
Downs quit her job to go on a year-long solo backpacking trip that took her through 17 countries while her mom was in the final stage of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Along her journey, she hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, went on a safari, volunteered at a monkey sanctuary in the Bolivian jungle and worked with elephants in northern Thailand, according to the author’s website.
The discussion will be hosted by Tod Goldberg, program director for UCR Palm Desert Center’s low-residency MFA in creative writing.
The free webinar will take place at 6 p.m.
To register, visit ucr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dJAkowlgS7e79Pq2ljxlCA.