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Author Heather Green, formerly of Manhattan and Union City, will read from and discuss her memoir "To Catch a Cat: How Three Stray Kittens Rescued Me," at 7 p.m. at the Englewood Library.
The memoir -- Green's first book -- chronicles how rescuing feral cats with her boyfriend, Matt, at his home in Union City helped her realize a renewed sense of commitment and belonging.
The book’s narrative describes the entertaining ins and outs of rescuing kittens through the eyes of someone clueless about the cat-rescue community.
"I was drawn to the cats because it was clear something needed to be done and I could do it. I didn't know what or where it would lead," said Green, who evolved into a rescuer after spotting three kittens in a lot next to Matt's house.
The experience changed her life as she fell in love with the kittens occupying her bathtub as the couple searched for adoptive homes.
"There was a moment when I counted, and we had 11 cats between Matt's two and the ones we were fostering," said Green, who was living on the Upper West Side in Manhattan and had set her life on a strict career trajectory. "I thought 'wow, we're cat rescuers.' "
Before the first three kittens came into her life, she was a BusinessWeek reporter planning her next steps to be a national journalist.
"The book is really a story of how you’re on one path and something happens and then you completely reassess," she said. "I wanted to set down roots but hadn’t figured out what that meant. I thought it meant reaching my goals, being in a certain place, like New York."
What she discovered was roots were about connection. "It's not about career or social life — it’s the people, the community," she added. "And I didn’t realize that until the cats. A place isn’t roots. We are social beings."
Green said the experience took her to the point of pivoting, and she feels lucky. "I was completely into the New York life and that became my mindset," she said. "I had made a lot of decisions and hadn’t fully opened myself to what I wanted."
The experience also ended in wedding bells and, a few years later, a daughter. The family recently returned to her childhood hometown in Loundon County, Va. They still have the original feral cat that started it all.The program is free and Green will sign copies of her book after the talk. Books will be available for purchase for $16, cash or check only.
For more information about the talk, call 201-568-2215, Ext. 244; or e-mail programming@englewood.bccls.org.
For more information about the book, see the author's website.
The Englewood Public Library is at 31 Engle St., Englewood.
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