Author Lisa Romeo to Visit Roseland Free Public Library

One can say Lisa Romeo’s career as a writer unofficially started at the
age of 5, when her older sister gave her a typewriter before heading
off to college.

“I wrote her letters every week and began to write silly stories. Maybe
I also began to write because in a loud family with two older siblings,
no one listened when I talked!” said Romeo.

There is no doubt people are listening to Romeo’s words now: Her first full-length book, Starting with Goodbye: A Daughter’s Memoir of Love After Loss
, has generated rave reviews, landed Romeo numerous speaking
engagements, and most importantly, resonates deeply among people who
have experienced the loss of a loved one.

Meet the Cedar Grove-based author this Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 7 pm at
the Roseland Free Public Library and learn more about her work as a
writer and what motivated her to pen this memoir.

Inspired by the death of her 79-year-old father, Tony Chipolone, a
self-made businessman at the helm of a lucrative polyester manufacturing
company, Starting with Goodbye unknowingly originated a
eulogy Romeo started writing on a plane. The book takes a close look at
their loving yet somewhat distant relationship, and later, the
conversations Romeo found herself having with her father after his
passing.

“The complexity of grief surprised and intrigued me – the way grief
wends its way so unpredictably, and how it doesn’t go away but changes
as we fit the loss into our lives,” Romeo said. “It struck me that a lot
of other people were also experiencing this, were also ‘talking to’
their deceased loved ones and looking back on their relationships. I was
also asking myself how I could get to know my father better, even after
he passed. I wanted to write about that process of discovery, and share
it.”

During Wednesday’s presentation at the library, Romeo said she will share excerpts from Starting with Goodbye
, discuss the writing process, the “perils and pleasures” of writing a
memoir, and offer some writing tips to any aspiring authors in the
audience.

“I’d love to hear from audience members with any questions about
writing or publishing, and if they would like to share any of their own
writing experiences, especially if it involves writing about family,”
she said.

Family is one theme that frequently appears in Romeo’s work, which has been listed in Best American Essays 2016 . She has written a variety of essays, articles, and nonfiction narratives for The New York Times , Baristanet , O The Oprah Magazine
, and other publications. She serves as thesis director for online the
Bay Path University MFA program and teaches locally at the Writers’
Circle. To learn more about the author, visit lisaromeo.net . To RSVP for this event, call 973-226-8636.