Author Talk: Tim Crellin, The Land of the Living

Tuesday, October 28 — 2:00 PM 

A favored son of North Hill is coming to talk about his book! That’s right, Tim Crellin, son of North Hill residents David and Barbara Crellin will be here to talk about The Land of the Living, his moving narrative about family, love, and all the ways life can surprise us. 

About the Book: 

The Land of the Living is a historical novel that explores the themes of immigration and assimilation, war and its impact on families, the role of race and class in forging identity, and what it means to find home. The story follows Angela Amorelli and her husband Tommaso through Ellis Island and on to their new life in a New England fishing town. Angela sacrifices everything, hoping to create a better future for her children, only to be confronted with more loss and strife than one could bear. But with remarkable strength and resilience, she carries on through the wars and upheaval that shaped the 20th century, becoming the force that confronts war’s impact and heals her family. An unforgettable story of family and faith, The Land of the Living inspires readers to rethink how we came to be who we are. 

About the author 

The Land of the Living grows out of the author’s fascination with his Sicilian heritage, on his mother’s side. Crellin studied Italian and lived in Bologna for a year. He has Italian citizenship, speaks fluent Italian, and visits his family in Sicily as often as possible. 

The other taproot of the book is Tim’s deep study of war in the 20th century, and particularly the generational impact of World War I, World War II, and Vietnam on immigrant families. Crellin is an Episcopal priest, raised in the Boston area and educated at Brown University and Harvard Divinity School before being ordained in 1996. Tim was Vicar of St. Stephen’s Church in Boston from 1999 to 2022 and was the founder of St. Stephen’s Youth Programs. Previously, he was Associate Rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill. Under Tim’s leadership, the B-SAFE summer academic enrichment program, which he started in the summer of 2000, expanded to serve more than 650 youth at locations in the South End, Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Chelsea. More than 250 young people attended daily after-school programs operated by St. Stephen’s Youth Programs and locations in the South End and Roxbury. 

Over the course of more than twenty years, Tim and his staff developed a unique partnership program with a network of more than fifty suburban churches and 1,000 volunteers who support the programs, serving as tutors and mentors. This network also supports a partnership with the Blackstone School, with volunteers assisting in every classroom and staffing the school library. Tim is also a founder of the B-PEACE Campaign, an anti-violence effort founded after the death of a long-time member of the St. Stephen’s community. 

In addition to being Rector of St. Paul’s Church in Gardner and Dean of the Wachusett Valley Deanery, Tim is a chaplain with a local hospice provider. He serves on the Ethics Committee at Heywood Hospital in Gardner, and on the Beloved Community Commission of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. Tim is an avid gardener, runner, reader, and Boston sports fan. He and his wife Jenny, climb Mt. Monadnock at least once a week, occasionally with their adult son, Adam.