S5 E11 Faith, Friends, and Flannery with Roxane Salonen

ShownotesSome of the most prolific writers often wrote based off of their own personal experiences and turned them into brilliant literary works. For author Flannery O’Connor, this proved true but not in such an obvious way. She experienced a great amount of grief throughout her life that fueled her in a way that ended up shaping and solidifying her faith, to the degree that she would not have made such an impact on the literary world and beyond if not for these crosses. But what exactly can we learn from her in terms of handling our own grief? How can we use her life as inspiration for our own lives to “live like you’re dying”?In this week’s episode, Andrea and Jennifer explore the life of Flannery O’Connor with Roxane Salonen, one of the authors of the new book, Finding Flannery: the Mystique of Flannery O’Connor and the Legacy She has Left Us All, authored by Christina Brajkovich, Karen Anne Mahoney, and Roxane B. Salonen  Our GuestRoxane B. Salonen lives in Fargo, North Dakota and has been crafting stories as a journalist and author for decades, including the award-winning "What Would Monica Do?" (Ascension Press, 2022), and more recently, the co-authored "Finding Flannery" (En Route Books & Media, 2025). Whether through podcast interviews or newspaper articles, Roxane finds Flannery’s love for the truth and Catholic convictions inspiring as she seeks to report on truth today.Scripture​"Jesus wept." (John 11:35)Links​Finding Flannery: the Mystique of Flannery O’Connor and the Legacy She Has Left Us All​Flannery movie “Wildcat”​Letters of Flannery O’Connor: The Habit of Being​A Prayer Journal: Flannery O’Connor​Andalusia, Flannery’s homePrayer for the souls of Gabriel in miscarriage; Roxane’s father, Robert, at 77; her mother-in-law, Beverly, and friends: Tom Gourde and Dennis SimonsJournaling Questions