This Hunger Is Secret

Thanks to Lori Palmer for the front cover image


Description

Although Julie Greene grew up a troubled child, mental illness did not take hold of her until she turned 22. This sickness affected all areas of her life: it changed her friendships and family relationships, her college activities, and even her ability to take care of herself. This Hunger Is Secret: My Journeys Through Mental Illness and Wellness describes Julie’s early life, her time spent at a day treatment center, her stay at a small hospital in rural Vermont, her brief hospitalization at a Massachusetts state hospital, her time at a residence at McLean Hospital, and many other experiences in--and out--of the mental health system. This is a book about hunger--a gnawing, insatiable hunger for spiritual fulfillment and love. Julie is in her fifties now; she looks back, and remembers.

About the Author

Julie Greene was born in 1958 in Philadelphia, and raised in Lexington, Massachusetts, where she attended public schools. She studied music education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and music composition at Bennington College. In 1979, she spent 40 days hitch-hiking across the USA and Canada with her dog, Hoofy, then returned to college, but everything had changed. She spent the next eighteen years observing the mental health system, writing, and meeting the many characters she later wrote about in This Hunger Is Secret. She returned to academia in 1998, and in 2003 earned her BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. She graduated with her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in 2009. Today, she enjoys working on new writing projects, and knitting sweaters for her dog, Puzzle.