Organ donation forum in Marion tied to locally written novel

Early in his book, Irreplaceable, Iowa City author Stephen Lovely defines the relationship between one of the main characters, AlexVoormann, and the family of another, Janet Corcoran. The Corcorans have sent Alex a greeting card:

Alex sets the card down on the coffee table. Carly. David. Thinking of you, as always. Who are these people? He'd like to talk to Isabel, wherever she is, just to let her know her generosity had an unforeseen consequence: she linked him with these Corcorans, who otherwise would not have existed, who wouldn't be threatening him now with their curiosity, their vitality, with a gratefulness close to adoration.

Isabel, in this passage, is Alex's late wife. Killed in a traffic mishap, her heart has been donated to Janet Corcoran. So sets the stage for a journey in which Lovely explores the intersections of life and death that produce opportunities missed and realized.

A byproduct of the story is that it sets some context for a discussion about organ donation. Organizers of the Linn Area Reads program have planned that discussion, to be held at a public forum at the end of this week, on Saturday, at the Marion Public Library, 1095 Sixth Ave., and start at 2 p.m.

Organizers have pulled together a panel volunteers and people affected by organ donation, as well as information from the Iowa Donor Network. I accepted their invitation to moderate. Please stop by for this valuable information.

The forum is tied to Lovely's book because Irreplaceable is this year's selection for Linn Area Reads, the annual program in which Linn County residents are asked to read a book and then gather to discuss the messages the book delivers.

The Gazette is a supporter of the Linn Area Reads program, along with Barnes & Noble Booksellers, East Central Library Services, Friends of the Cedar Rapids Public Library, the Giacoletto Foundation, Hancher Auditorium and the Metro Library Network. A book discussion was held at Barnes & Noble on Collins Road Thursday night but you still have another chance to see Lovely talk about the book, at 7 p.m. April 19 at Kirkwood Community College's Ballantyne Auditorium.

One thing to note about the book, besides the story itself, is that readers can take a bit of gratification from it being one of many examples of how the strong literature coming from Iowa City lends itself to Iowa, as a state,

having a reputation as a home for writers.