How Creativity Helps You Heal: A Memoirist's Journey with Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart has made award-winning films for college and universities, written acclaimed software, and now has written his first book. That book, Carrying the Tiger: Living with Cancer, Dying with Grace, Finding Joy while Grieving, tells the story of Tony and his late wife, painter Lynn Kotula, as they navigate her Stage IV cancer diagnosis, treatment, and hospice, and Tony’s journey out of grief. Tony joins me to talk about his original journey from writing to software development, how it felt to return to writing via CaringBridge after Lynn’s diagnosis, the process of writing Carrying the Tiger, the nature of grief, and more.  Episode breakdown: 00:00 Intro 02:12 Introducing Tony Stewart 03:02 Creative Childhood Experiences 08:02 Shakespeare in the Park 11:34 Understanding Filmmaking Client Needs 17:48 Complex Problems Beyond Machine Solutions 19:15 Joy of Reading Book Reviews 24:58 Returning to Writing 26:39 The Beginning of the Book 29:29 Writing Addiction and Motivation 32:40 Overview of the Book 34:00 Writing in Present Tense 38:38 Memoir as Thriller 41:31 Structuring the Book 42:24 Tony's Memories and Reflections 45:51 Creating Realistic Characters 48:27 Exploring Grief 52:04 Anticipatory Grief 56:58 Individuality of Grief Experiences Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my previous interviews with guests in writing.   Check out the full show notes (now including transcripts!) at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack. Please leave a review for this episode—it’s really easy and will only take a minute, and it really helps me reach new listeners. Thanks! If you enjoyed our conversation, I hope you’ll share it with a friend.