Linda Morrow

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

—Robert Frost

 

Heart of This Family

My memoir Heart of This Family: Lessons in Down Syndrome and Love, is now available for purchase!

All proceeds from the sale of Heart of This Family will be directed to the Steve Cohen Fund administered by the Howard Center in Burlington, Vermont. I have included several ordering options below.

More Ordering Options — Shop Indie!!

VILLAGE BOOKS—I live less than a two-minute walk from this outstanding bookstore, and consequently spend WAY too much money there!

GREEN MOUNTAIN BOOKS—Located in Lyndonville, Vermont, this cozy place is understated, like much of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. But customers trust owner Kim Crady-Smith so much, that during the pandemic many who live out-of-state ask her to hand select and mail them a book each month!

CROW BOOKS—I love this quirky bookstore for its eclectic combination of new and used titles.

PHOENIX BOOKS—With three different locations in Vermont, the Burlington store is a place I visit each and every time I am in the “Queen City.”

NORWICH BOOKSTORE—Just “across the river” from Hanover, New Hampshire, in the lovely Vermont town of Norwich,
booksellers and founders, Penny McConnel and Liza Bernard, have enjoyed a loyal following for over 25 years.

STILL NORTH BOOKS AND BAR—The closing of the Dartmouth Bookstore a few years ago, left a gaping hole in downtown Hanover, New Hampshire. Fortunately this combination bookstore, bar and café stepped up and provided a much-needed course correction.

BOOKSHOP.ORG—An online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.

Also available at IndieBound and Amazon.

Reviews

“Part love story, part life story, all heart, Linda Morrow’s moving chronicle of her son Steve’s remarkable 49 years has something to say to us all. Don’t settle. Hold tight to those who matter to us most. Love, in all its sad and glorious forms, is the worthiest of allies. Linda learned these truths completely, with her son’s help. In Steve’s unbreakable spirit, Linda Morrow found her own. that was Steve’s gift to her. One of many.”

—Paul Daughtery, Autho of An Uncomplicated Life: A Father’s Memoir of His Exceptional Daughter

“The unforgettable story of a mother’s love, an educator’s devotion, a family’s dedication, and a boy, Steve, who brightened many lives. Linda Morrow’s memoir chronicles her pioneering struggles to help Steve find his place in the world both as a child and as an adult. In doing so she also found the courage to become her best self. Hope, humor, heart—and heartbreak—fill these pages. Morrow’s strength of purpose will inspire anyone who has ever been told to be satisfied with the status quo. This is a remarkable book.” 

—Laura Kalpakian, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship recipient and award- winning author of The Great Pretenders

“Here is an invitation to share in the intersection between the realities of life and the expectations we create for ourselves and those that are created for us by our family and our friends and our communities. Linda and her son Steve not only lived in and through a period of cultural change and transformation about how, as a culture, we engage, include, and embrace the specially–abled among us, they helped bring about the transformation. This is a memoir across the span of a lifetime that speaks with the honesty, informality, and sometimes raw emotion of a voice with lived experience about how families and family members come together and sometimes come apart with the awakening of personal insight and power and shared responsibilities. This is not about lost opportunities and sacrifice. It is about the transformative spirit that energizes those we love and that love us. It is one family’s story about a mother’s love and a son who lived an amazing life.”

—Bob Bick, CEO The Howard Center, Burlington, VT

“A deeply moving, searingly honest blueprint of a woman’s full coming of age. There is such extraordinary self-reckoning in these pages about what it means to be an independent woman and a loving, committed mother. This honest, achingly wise book traces the fierce love that connects a mother and her son.”

—Susan Conley, Author of The Foremost Good Fortune, an Oprah Magazine Top Ten Pick and winner of the Maine Literary Award for Memoir.

“A true story of love, resilience, and struggle. The amazing journey of a loving mother who set out with no map, no examples, and little support determined to settle for nothing less than a full life for her son. Many times she had to “take the road less traveled” in her own life as well as Steve’s.”

—William E. Boyle, Jr. MD, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics Dartmouth Medical School

“Linda Morrow’s story moved me deeply, both because of what she and her family accomplished for Steve, a captivating person with Down syndrome, and because I lived through those early years of Steve’s life as a special educator before there was a Federal law addressing the rights of children with handicaps. I remember the frustrations, the barriers and the tears shed both by parents and providers. The story unfolds into three intertwined narratives: Steve’s development into a man who was loved and admired in his chosen home of Burlington, Vermont; Linda’s own story of uncovering her voice and herself in ways she had not imagined; and the cultural shifts and huge challenges to public education that resulted from the passage of the Federal law 94-142, Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This is a warm-hearted, well-designed memoir with a depth of insight that makes it well worth reading.”

—Lyn Parker Hass PhD, Retired Special Educator

“This is a rare tale well told of a woman determined to both mother her son well and to live her own life and love honestly – as honestly as he did.”

—Leah Lax, Author of Uncovered – How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home

Latest from the Blog

Steve and The Howard Center

Steve and The Howard Center

When Steve moved to Burlington, Vermont in 1994, The Howard Center became his official service provider—a relationship which continued until his death in 2015. In addition to helping Steve form important connections to his new community, this progressive and...

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Cover Reveal – Heart of This Family

Cover Reveal – Heart of This Family

Writing my memoir wasn’t exactly easy so why did I think developing the “right” book cover would be any different? Given the title, the front had to include a heart. And I wanted to incorporate the colors blue and yellow, which the Down syndrome community uses to...

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BECOMING REAL #6

BECOMING REAL #6

Toward the end of HEART OF THIS FAMILY – Lessons In Down Syndrome And Love, I write the following: People. It had always been about people. The right people dropping into Steve’s life at just the right time. Individuals, not systems, had moved Steve forward in his life.

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About Linda

I spent the first seventy-five years of my life in New England before moving to Bellingham, Washington, with my wife in 2013. After retiring from a career as a public school educator, I uncovered my passion for writing. I relish the vibrant and supportive community of writers who live in Bellingham. When not pounding away on my computer at my favorite coffee house, I can often be found walking along an ocean beach, my go-to place for inspiration and solace. I remain true to my roots by cheering on the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots.

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