At Rohnert Park event, 'Wild,’ 'Educated' authors recount odysseys of self-discovery

A pair of best-selling authors, Tara Westover and Cheryl Strayed, each recounted their life-affirming journeys of self-discovery for an audience of about 1,400 people Wednesday night on the campus of Sonoma State University.

Westover’s path was a trek through the U.S. education system after she left her Mormon survivalist parents to attend college at age 17. Strayed’s was a literal solo hike along 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail that helped her cope with her mother’s death and the dissolution of her marriage.

Despite their divergent backgrounds, both women shared one lesson they learned through their experiences: Embrace the unknown.

The authors, each of whom spoke for about 30 minutes, punctuated their intensely personal stories with moments of humor at the Women in Conversation event at the Green Music Center. The discussion series is co-sponsored by The Press Democrat.

Westover and Strayed’s talks, which were followed by a question-and-answer session, sold out, and the audience packed the university’s auditorium to listen to the women’s stories.

Westover’s memoir “Educated,” published last year, describes her sheltered childhood in rural Idaho and the struggle she faced turning away from parents who opposed public education.

“Education is what saved me,” Westover said. “When I say education, I think what I really mean is imagination. That is, the ability to imagine a life that is different from the life that’s in front of you.”

When Westover was 7, her grandmother wanted to kidnap her and run away to Arizona so she could be enrolled in school. But ultimately, Westover chose not to go because she could not imagine a life other than the one she had - working in her father’s junkyard or stewing herbs for her mother. It was only when she discovered music and stepped into a classroom for the first time when she attended Brigham Young University at 17 that she thought, “Maybe there’s something worth leaving this mountain for.”

Westover said she realized, eventually, that if she was going to protect her own identity, she would have to abandon the life her parents had raised her in.

“It took me a lot of years to make that choice,” Westover said. “I simply could not imagine a life without my family in it. Certainly not a life that I would want. And I suppose ultimately that’s what my education gave me ... was an awareness of my own life.”

Similarly, Strayed could not have imagined what would await her on the Pacific Crest Trail when she set off with no hiking experience.

“I was not as prepared as I imagined myself to be. My pack was heavier than I could lift,” she said. “(But) that’s how I learned. We never forget a lesson we learn the hard way.”

Strayed’s memoir about that experience, “Wild,” was published in 2012 and adapted into an Oscar-nominated 2014 film starring Reese Witherspoon. It is an account of her experience hiking the trail by herself, with no training, after her mother’s death. The hike, she said, taught her how to endure the emotional suffering of losing her mother.

“I thought I can’t live without my mom,” she said. “And it was so long before I realized I was wrong about that. … I can live with this suffering. This suffering, this sorrow is immense, but I’m strong enough to carry it.”

Those who attended Women in Conversation said they felt the series is important for people to learn about women’s accomplishments. Petaluma resident Stephanie King said the series is “a gift” to the community because it brings high-profile speakers to Sonoma County.

“Women are empowered and empowering,” said Lucine Luna, who lives in Windsor. “This is just another forum for women to be heard and send the message that we can do and we are doing.”

King added that most people at Wednesday’s event had not walked the Pacific Crest Trail like Strayed or had a sheltered childhood like Westover, but that everyone could learn something from the two authors’ experiences - a sentiment Strayed expressed in her remarks to the crowd. She said the memoir is a way for readers to see themselves in the writer and share “our story,” collectively.

“(We’re) the wild and educated women,” Strayed said.

You can reach Staff Writer Chantelle Lee at 707-521-5337 or chantelle.lee@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ChantelleHLee.