Grateful news

A Priest in Good Trouble is now fully funded!

Cross-posted from my Kickstarter:

What a thrill to discover that, at 11:10 p.m. last night—which happened to be the birthday of my previous biographical subject, Father Edward Dowling, S.J.—a backer made the pledge that brought the Kickstarter for A Priest in Good Trouble over the finish line! I made the video above to share my joy and gratitude with you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it possible for me to fulfill my dream of sharing Father Twomey's story with the world.

I haven't yet decided if I'll keep this Kickstarter going beyond its official end date of September 14. Certainly, it would help me to have some additional savings, since I don't yet have a job lined up after I submit the manuscript of A Priest in Good Trouble to Notre Dame Press at the end of January 2025. At the same time, with the Kickstarter having fulfilled its purpose, it may make more sense to let the campaign close so that I'll have fewer distractions as I write the biography.

In the meantime, until September 14, I've decided to add an additional reward tier of $45 for backers who would like an inscribed copy of my book The Sacred Heart: A Love for All Times, to be published by Loyola Press in March 2025. 

Several backers have pledged bonus support without requesting a reward. I think that if you've already pledged $45 or more and have not yet selected a reward, Kickstarter will let you go back and select The Sacred Heart if you would like it. But if the site won't let you do so, and you've already pledged that amount and would like that reward, just let me know and I'll make a note to send it to you.

Father Twomey was a great lover of opera, or at least the operas performed at Xavier University of Louisiana, the historically black university founded by St. Katherine Drexel. As far as I can tell from his datebooks, he never missed attending a Xavier University student opera performance when he was in town. So I think it's appropriate to celebrate this moment with the Xavier University Concert Choir performing in this beautiful excerpt from composer Dan Shore's opera Freedom Ride, inspired by the Freedom Rides of 1961, which Father Twomey actively supported.