A new honor is in store for Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo and five Maine writers who joined him in writing the new Down East book, A Healing Touch: True Stories of Life, Death, and Hospice. When Russo and authors Monica Wood, Bill Roorbach, Wesley McNair, Gerry Boyle, and Susan Sterling launch their book in Waterville April 11, they will also witness the reading of a gubernatorial proclamation that cites their book as part of Maine's Hospice Volunteer Recognition Month.

    Governor John Baldacci's proclamation recognizes “the generosity of spirit” demonstrated by hospice volunteers and cites the book and its authors as donating "their time, talents, and royalties to the hospice cause." All six authors are donating their royalties to the Hospice Volunteers of the Waterville Area. In addition, Down East is donating 10 percent of the proceeds to the cause.

    Based on interviews the writers undertook with people who had been helped by hospice intervention, A Healing Touch proves the close of life need not be filled with darkness, when hospice help is at hand. These writers recount end-of-life moments that cover a wide spectrum of human experience, from the man who smashed every dish in his house, to the mother whose son was the first soldier killed in Iraq, to the musician who treated a dying woman to the bouncy Beach Boys tune "Barbara Ann."

    Richard Russo of Camden is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls. His latest book, published by Knopf, is Bridge of Sighs. He came up with the idea for A Healing Touch when his friend, Leon (Lee) Duff of Waterville, asked him to do a reading to support the hospice that had helped Duff and his late wife as she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Russo said, “Rather than doing the equivalent of a ‘literary back sale’,” which would raise only a modest sum, “I thought we should do something more substantial.” When he heard the stories Lee Duff and the hospice’s executive director Dale Marie Clark had to tell, he realized these and other accounts of hospice experience would make an uplifting book.

    Five writers joined Russo in the effort. Gerry Boyle is a crime writer and journalist who lives in China, (Maine). Poet and essayist Wesley McNair resides in Mercer. He is also the editor of three anthologies published by Down East Books. Bill Roorbach of Farmington writes fiction and non-fiction, and contributes monthly to www.downeast.com. Susan Sterling writes essays, stories, and articles in Waterville. Portland writer Monica Wood is known for her short fiction and novels.

    Hospice Volunteers of the Waterville Area (HVWA) is a non-profit organization established in 1980 to serve those who are facing end-of-life issues and grieving. Their free services are available to people from 27 communities in central Maine. While this hospice is specifically named in Governor Baldacci’s proclamation, the document also honors hospice volunteers throughout the state of Maine for giving “wholeheartedly of their time, talent, and compassion to people of all ages at the end of life” and also for helping “individuals who are grieving.”

    A Healing Touch may be purchased at the event, or wherever books are sold. They may also be ordered directly from Down East through its online store  or by calling . Online orders will be fulfilled with books signed by Richard Russo, while supplies of autographed copies last.

    For information specifically related to the event venue, or to the work of the hospice volunteers, contact Dale Marie Clark, Executive Director, Hospice Volunteers of the Waterville Area: dmclark@hvwa.org; 207-873-3615 x13