Wellfleet Public Library

Author Talk: Sherry Sidoti - “A Smoke and a Song”

January 2021, ten months into the global pandemic, Sherry Sidoti's mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer -50 Sherry prioritizes a trip to Manhattan over long- awaited empty-nesting and her "second chance" with fiancé Jevon. With new life blooming and loss looming, she is beckoned to answer the question that has haunted her since childhood: is freedom found in letting go," as the spiritual teachers (and her mother) insist-or is it found by digging our heels deeper into the earth and holding on to our humanness? A Smoke and a Song is Sherry's story of her quest to make meaning from the memories homed in her body. Told with tenacity, tenderness, and wry humor, Sherry stumbles towards self-actualization, spiritual awakening -and, despite it all, love. This is a story steeped in art and spirituality that explores the complexities of transgenerational maternal bonds, attachment, loss, and leaning in to our wounds to find the wisdom.

Sherry Sidoti is an award-winning author and the founder and lead teacher of FLY Yoga School, a yoga teacher training program, and FLY Outreach, a not-for-profit that offers yoga and meditation for trauma resilience on Martha's Vineyard, MA. She leads spiritual courses, teacher training, and retreats globally. Her musings, infused by twenty-plus years of practicing and teaching yoga, healing arts, and mysticism have been published in various magazines and anthologies. 2023 Gold Medalist for Inspirational Memoir with Living Now Book Awards and 2024 Finalist for Eric Hoffer Awards da Vinci Eye Prize, A Smoke and a Song is Sherry's first book. She is the granddaughter of the late local poet Stanley Kunitz and painter Elise Asher, with a lifetime of fond memories from time spent with them in Provincetown and Wellfleet. Sherry resides on Martha's Vineyard, MA.