Montclair Magazine May 2023 | Page 27

memoir

SHE

INHERITED

A BUCKET LIST

Montclair author Laura Carney discovered her father ’ s goals , and her own hidden reserves
WRITTEN BY JULIA MARTIN
COURTESY OF LAURA CARNEY ; BOOK : COURTESY OF POST HILL PRESS

When Laura Carney was 25 , her father Mitch , 54 , was killed by ateen driver who was talkingonher cellphone .

Thirteen years later , in 2016 , Carney stumbled on alist her father had written the year she was born , titled “ Things IWould Like toDoin My Lifetime !” Scrawled on a piece of paper ripped from aspiral notebook were 60life goals , ranging from the random ( grow a watermelon ) to the difficult ( talk to aPresident , correspond with the Pope ) to the seemingly impossible ( own ahouse with alot of land ). In between were bucketlist destinations from Dresden to Vienna to New Orleans , and physical challenges such as “ Run 10 miles straight ” and “ Swim the width of ariver .”
She knew right away that completing the list was “ what Iwas supposed to do .” What she didn ’ t know was how living out her father ’ sdreams would help her gain adeeper understanding of her father , their relationship and herself — and help her find her own way inthe world .
LEAPSOFFAITH
My Father ’ s List : How Living MyDad ’ s Dreams Set Me Free , tobepublished by Post Hill Press on June 13 , is Carney ’ smemoir about her six-year quest tocomplete her dad ’ s bucket list . In the style of Cheryl Strayed ’ s Wild , which Carney says inspired her , the book details the psychological challenge of coming to terms with loss while documenting a physical challenge . Like Wild , My Father ’ s List may become amovie ; Carney is fielding inquiries from anumber of producers .
ForCarney , the biggest obstacle to checking off items was the cost . When she came across the list , she was a 36-year-old copy editor living in Manhattan and struggling to make ends meet . Later that year , when she married her long-time boyfriend , Steve Seighman , agraphic-designer , she used acash wedding gift from her mother intended for use as adown payment on a house to start chipping away at her father ’ slist . ( The couple moved to Montclair in 2010 ).
CHECKING OFF BOXES Photos of Carney completing events from her father ’ s bucket list .
@ montclairmagazine MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE MAY 2023
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