Actress Ashley Judd author event April 15, 2011

Tickets required: Purchase of the book admits one

Ashley Judd presents her memoir All That Is Bitter and Sweet ($25.00). Ashley Judd is an award-winning film and stage actor known for her roles in both box-office hits and art-house gems, and the daughter and sister of country-music royalty. In 2002, drawing on a deep well of empathy, she found her true calling: as a humanitarian and advocate for those suffering in neglected parts of the world.

Asked why she was opting out of a successful career, walking away while she was one of the highest-paid women in Hollywood, Ashley herself could not provide an answer. She simply knew that after her first trip to the notorious brothels, slums, and hospices of southeast Asia, her own life depended on advocating on behalf of the vulnerable. Along the way, Ashley realized that the coping strategies she had developed to deal with her own emotional pain, stemming from childhood abandonment, were no longer working. Seeking in-patient treatment in 2006 for the grief that had nearly killed her, Ashley found not only her own recovery and an enriched faith but an expanded kit of spiritual tools that energized and advanced her feminist social justice work. Now, in this deeply moving memoir, Judd describes her odyssey, as a left-behind lost child attains international prominence as a fiercely dedicated advocate.

Official Website: http://bookpassage.com/event/ashley-judd-all-bitter-and-sweet