VIRTUAL - Maria Kefalas | Harnessing Grief: A Mother's Quest for Meaning and Miracles

In conversation with Ashley Fox, Writer. Speaker. Entrepreneur. Athlete. Mom. ESPN alumna.

In 2012, Maria Kefalas’s daughter, Calliope, was diagnosed with a rare, degenerative, and incurable genetic disease called metachromatic leukodystrophy. Rather than succumbing to grief, Kefalas and her husband harnessed this powerful emotion in order to save other children and, ultimately, themselves. What followed was an incredible odyssey that included a fundraising bake sale of more than 50,000 cupcakes, a blog that blossomed into articles published in the likes of Slate and the Huffington Post, two groundbreaking charitable foundations, and advocacy in America’s loftiest halls of power. Harnessing Grief maps this journey and how it affected 13 other families with similarly afflicted children. A sociology professor at Saint Joseph’s University, Kefalas is also the author of the books Hollowing Out the Middle, Working-Class Heroes, and Promises I Can Keep.

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