Poet and funeral director ponders faith, life and mortality

Westminster John Knox Press publishes essay collection from National Book Award finalist

by Westminster John Knox Press | Special to Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — Whether he’s writing about his pig-valve heart transplant, introducing readers to a galley of inspiring poets and poems, or describing the hearse ride at the funeral of Seamus Heaney, Thomas Lynch has an uncanny knack for writing about death — and ultimately, life — in ways that are never morbid, sometimes humorous, but always thoughtful.

The author of the National Book Award finalist, “The Undertaking,” Lynch, a funeral director and poet, returns with an essay collection on his faith and his mortality.

“Whence and Whither: On Lives and Living” paints a portrait of Lynch’s life’s work, split between Ireland and Michigan as he moves from the funeral parlor to the university speaking circuit to the monk-like solitude of County Clare, Ireland. With his confident control of language, Lynch has produced a collection full of grace and wit as he ponders life’s biggest questions.

“Tom has the discerning eye of a poet and essayist, the wisdom and gravitas of a funeral director, and, most of all, the empathetic imagination to be a shrewd observer of the people, living and dead, with whom he has shared this planet,” writes Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching Emeritus at Candler School of Theology. “This is a book to enjoy, to learn from and to savor.”

Literature readers will enjoy Lynch exploring his work in relation to other poets such as William Carlos Williams, Carol Ann Duffy and Michael Donaghy as well as essays that meditate on growing older and the Lord’s Prayer. “Whence and Whither: On Lives and Living“ is now available from Westminster John Knox Press and other major retailers.

Thomas Lynch is a funeral director and writer whose work has appeared in “The New Yorker,” “Paris Review,” “The New York Times,” and “Harper’s,” among others. He is the author of five collections of poems and four books of essays, including “The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade,” which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1997. He lives in Milford, Michigan, and Moveen, County Clare, Ireland.