Author Name:
Amy Shea
Book Title:
Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins
Website URL:
https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/too-poor-to-die/9781978843981/
Social Media Links:
- https://www.instagram.com/amyshea_author/
- https://bsky.app/profile/amysheawriter.bsky.social
- https://substack.com/@amysheawriter
Link to book page on Amazon:
What is your book about?
Death may be the great equalizer, but not all deaths are created equal. When someone dies unclaimed, unhoused, disenfranchised from society, or without family or friends, there may be no easy path to resting in peace. With well over half a million people experiencing homelessness in the US. Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins, a collection of closely connected essays, takes the reader on a journey into what happens to those who die while experiencing homelessness or who end up indigent or unclaimed at the end of life. Too Poor to Die bears witness to the disparities in death and dying faced by some of society’s most vulnerable and marginalized and asks the reader to consider their own end-of-life and disposition plans within the larger context of how privilege and access plays a role in what we want versus what we get in death.
What inspired you to write your book?
In 2013, I wrote an essay titled “Pushing Up Mare’s Tails,” about accompanying my dad to the county cemetery (a.k.a. the potter’s field) on a visit home. At the time, I wrote this in an effort to explore my relationship with my dad, home, and the memories I associated with growing up in Fresno, California. But along the way, I realized this cemetery, one for people too poor to pay for their own burials, had a hold on me. This interest, obsession even, grew bigger over the years and spiderwebbed into a quest to learn more about death and dying, and ultimately, how this intersected with poverty and homelessness.
What is a typical day like for you?
I work as the Writing Program Director for Mount Tamalpais College, a free community college for the incarcerated people of San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Most days I work remotely dealing with the various administrative tasks required of running an English department. In between that I work out and try to keep the cats from getting too bored! In the evenings before dinner I work on writing things, which currently consists mostly of marketing preparations for my upcoming book launch.
What do you most enjoy about what you do?
I love reading, and I feel compelled to write. I have lots of gratitude for the fact that I can use my writing to be an advocate and an activist to speak out on issues I care about deeply.
What are some favorite books you’d recommend to our readers?
- Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
- Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nicky Flynn
- Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Katy Butler
- How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin (I LOVE mysteries!)
What advice do you have to offer our readers?
Write where the heat is.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I received both of my graduate degrees in Scotland!
What’s next for you?
I’m working on a second book to follow Too Poor to Die that will focus solely on medical respite and hospice for unhoused people, which are explored in the final two chapters of my book. As I dug more into the research, met more people, and learned the stories of some of the patients who received such care, I knew this was a subject I had to learn more about and share with others.
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