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What happens when trauma gets distilled into fifty-five letters to a mother who couldn't hear them? In episode 278, Kim Cook shares how a shelf collapse and old records cracked open years of grief, unlocking the letters behind her memoir, What Remains Is Love. For Kim, healing meant compassion for an imperfect mother and choosing joy at every age.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
(03:34) How Kim's story began in a small farming town before her mother's bold move to Berkeley
(07:14) Growing up immersed in a multicultural community and the gift of lived experience
(13:33) Getting sober at 29 and finding her guiding filter of love, learning, and travel
(19:31) The inspiration behind her book, What Remains Is Love: Fifty-Five Letters to My Mother
(23:59) Understanding intergenerational trauma and the complexity of forgiveness
(26:20) How a collapsed bookshelf and old records sparked the letters that became a memoir
(32:15) Surviving addiction, financial hardship, and a life-threatening cancer diagnosis
(37:17) Launching her new Substack, Plain Spoken, and finding a supportive writing community
(42:02) Writing her next book, Life Without a Handbook: How I Got My Sh*t Together
(45:43) Staying playful and curious at any age, and why fun can be found anywhere
Kim Cook is a multidisciplinary creative director, author, and cultural strategist known for translating bold ideas into impact across theater, circus, festivals, public art, and digital media. Her background includes creative leadership roles at Burning Man and Montreal's Moment Factory, and founding New Orleans' LUNA Fête Festival as CEO of the Arts Council New Orleans. A nine-time NEA grant recipient and Kennedy Center Fellow, she holds degrees in Performing Arts and Arts and Consciousness, plus a Circus Dramaturgy certificate from France and Belgium's National Circus Schools. She authored What Remains Is Love: Fifty-Five Letters to My Mother, a memoir on grief and reconciliation, and writes Substack Plain Spoken.
In this episode, Kim Cook traces her story from a turbulent Bay Area childhood to her unreconciled relationship with her mother, a trailblazing physicist. She shares how her book, What Remains Is Love, grew out of grief into a vehicle for processing intergenerational trauma. Kim speaks candidly about recovering from addiction and surviving cancer, and describes her creative career across theater, circus, and placemaking, plus her new Substack and next book. She closes on lifelong learning and finding joy in ordinary moments.
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Book: Kim Cook - What Remains Is Love
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