Lecture: “The Land of the Living” by Timothy Crellin

“The Land of the Living” grows out of the author’s fascination with his Sicilian heritage, on his mother’s side. Timothy Crellin studied Italian and lived in Bologna for a year. He has Italian citizenship, speaks fluent Italian, and visits his family in Sicily as often as possible. The other taproot of the book is Tim’s deep study of war in the 20th century, and particularly the generational impact of World War I, World War II and Vietnam on immigrant families.

“Crellin doesn’t sugarcoat the immigrant experience. Instead, he honours it with grit and grace, showing the daily grind of laundry carts, fish hauls, language barriers, and constant fear that the American Dream might be nothing more than a mirage.” {from Book Reviews Cafe, May 1, 2025}

Timothy Crellin is an Episcopal priest, raised in the Boston area and educated at Brown University and Harvard Divinity School before being ordained in 1996.  Since February of 2022 he has been Rector of St. Paul’s Church in Gardner, Massachusetts.  Tim was Vicar of St. Stephen’s Church in Boston from 1999 to 2022, and was the founder of St. Stephen’s Youth Programs. Previously he was Associate Rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill.  In addition to being Rector and Dean of the Wachusett Valley Deanery, Tim is a chaplain with a local hospice provider. He serves on the Ethics Committee at Heywood Hospital in Gardner, and on the Social Justice Commission of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.

Published in February of this year, user reviews of the book can be found on Amazon.

Note: Unless specifically noted as being streamed or recorded, the lectures in the lecture series hosted by the Dante Society of Westerly are live events only and are not recorded. They are neither streamed online nor available afterwards as recordings.

Lectures are free and open to the public.