Mary Latham began traveling across the United States to collect stories of kindness in 2016. She drove thousands of miles and stayed in the homes of more than 150 strangers. Now, she’s working to turn those stories into a book.
Latham started her journey after her mother died in 2013. She said her mother inspired her to look for the good in life.
Despite all the bad and tragedies that are inevitably in our lives and in the world, there would always be more good out there,” Latham said.
Latham spent three years on the road, driving her mother’s Subaru over 40,000 miles across the U.S. She collected stories for a book focusing on resilience and acts of kindness from people she met.
One of her favorite stories is about a young boy with cancer who delivered hundreds of toys to children at a medical center in Massachusetts.
“When he went into remission, his mom said, you know, how do you want to celebrate? We could go on a big trip. Or, you know, what do you want to do? And he was seven years old, and he said, ‘I'd really like to just get a bunch of toys and bring them back to all the kids still stuck at the hospital,’” Latham said.
After spending three years immersed in the often intense stories of people’s traumas across the country, Latham found herself struggling to write the book.
“I just figured maybe I would try to kind of hit a reset and go back to the place that I was happiest on the entire journey. I loved Alaska. I found the people here to be some of the most friendliest people in the country,” Latham said.
She decided to return to Homer, where she spent the last summer farming and writing. Even though she left the town last week, she says the project will culminate in two books: a memoir documenting her journey and a collection of stories from her travels through the years that she plans to donate to hospitals.
