Polly Bart with Ron Haflidson and Greta Rose Pharr – THE LIFE I COULD HAVE
Friday, October 16, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
The Ivy Bookshop, Back Patio, 5928 Falls Road, Baltimore · Baltimore, MD
About this event
We’re delighted to be hosting Dr. Polly Bart in conversation about her book, The Life I Could Have: Suicide Prevention through Social Change . Drawing on seven years of research and her own history, Dr. Bart uses the study of suicide to lead to an exploration of the importance of connection and a sense of belonging. Combining poetry, research, story, and analysis, this book aims to not only present research on the life-saving power of community, but shift the way we look at our own lives. Dr. Bart will be joined in conversation by Dr. Ron Haflidson, whose book On Solitude, Conscience, Love and Our Inner and Outer Lives serves as a beautiful counterpart to this book — it looks at the importance of solitude in much the same way as The Life I Could Have looks at the importance of community. This fascinating dialogue will be moderated by Greta Rose Pharr, an experienced interviewer, founder and owner of the Greta Rose Agency, and the cover designer for The Life I Could Have . We hope you’ll join us, in community, for what promises to be an insightful and important conversation on the power of both connection and solitude! Books will be available for sale at the event. RSVP here! Dr. Polly Bart graduated from Harvard and was the third woman to receive her Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from Berkeley. She is the founder and owner of Greenbuilders, Inc., a successful local renovator and new home builder (www.greenbuilders.com). Dr. Ron Haflidson is a tenured faculty member in the great books program at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He currently serves as Assistant Dean. He wrote a book on the moral necessity of solitude, entitled On Solitude, Conscience, Love and Our Inner and Outer Lives (Bloomsbury, 2019). Greta Rose Pharr is founder and owner of the Greta Rose Agency, a digital marketing agency which for two decades has served clients such as Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rhonda Byrne (The Secret), and Universal Studios, bringing their stories to life across the digital world. gretarose.com
Event details
- Date and time
- Friday, October 16, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
- Venue
- The Ivy Bookshop, Back Patio, 5928 Falls Road, Baltimore · Baltimore, MD
- Category
- Books & reading
- Cost
- Cost not stated
- Age guidance
- Age guidance not specified
- Format
- In person
- Last verified
- October 3, 2026
Accessibility
Wheelchair: Not stated
Assistive Listening: Not stated
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