Photographer and author Stacy Waldman Bass will discuss her recently published memoir “Lightkeeper: A Memoir Through the Lens of Love and Loss” at Charter Books on Monday from 6 to 7 p.m.
The book explores Bass’s journey through grief following her father’s death in a 1995 seaplane accident on Block Island and her mother’s death from pancreatic cancer 25 years later.
Bass will be in conversation with Newport-based journalist and magazine editor Annie Sherman. The event will include a discussion, question-and-answer session and book signing.
“Lightkeeper,” published Sept. 16, chronicles how Bass processed her father’s sudden death by writing and collecting photographs of his life. Decades later, when her mother Jessica Waldman was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Bass created what she calls “a living tribute of images and words” during her mother’s year-long battle with the disease.
The memoir examines how photographs serve as “powerful portals into memory” and reveals how Bass became the “lightkeeper” of her family’s legacy, preserving stories of her parents, Michael and Jessica Waldman, for future generations.
Bass is an established photographer whose work has appeared in numerous publications including House Beautiful, Elle Décor, Veranda and The Wall Street Journal. She served as lead photographer for at home magazine for more than 10 years and has authored two previous books celebrating American landscapes.
Sherman, an 11th-generation Rhode Islander, is an award-winning journalist and editor who authored “Legendary Locals of Newport” and is working on an environmental adventure series for children.
Admission to the event is free, though organizers request RSVPs through the Charter Books website. Walk-ins are welcome.
Charter Books, founded in 2020, is located at 8 Broadway in Newport.