Lightkeeper: A Memoir Through the Lens of Love and Loss

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$29.99

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A luminous story of loss and resilience, Lightkeeper captures acclaimed photographer Stacy Bass’s personal journey through grief—and the art of keeping her parents’ legacy alive through memory and photography. In 1995, when a tragic seaplane accident on Block Island claimed her father’s life, Bass’s world shattered. She began to write as a way to process her excruciating grief, while gathering the pieces of his life through collected photographs. Some twenty-five years later, her mother was diagnosed with, and ultimately died from, pancreatic cancer after a one-year battle against that harrowing disease. During her mother’s illness, Bass created a living tribute of images and words that built a community of support around her mother when she needed it most. By collecting and sharing photographs of her parents, Michael and Jessica Waldman, Bass recognized how photographs serve not merely as records but as powerful portals into memory—gateways to the stories that exist just outside the frame. Filled with stunning prose and vibrant photography, this evocative memoir reveals how Bass became the "lightkeeper" of her family's legacy, preserving their stories for future generations. For anyone who has loved deeply and lost tragically, Lightkeeper offers both solace and inspiration—reminding us that the light of those who have been lost always endures.

Stacy Waldman Bass

Stacy Waldman Bass is an American author, artist, and fine art/editorial photographer known for her luminous, meticulously composed images of gardens, architecture, and the natural world. Based in Westport, Connecticut, she studied political science and photojournalism at Barnard College and later trained at the renowned Maine Photographic Workshops, where she learned under noted photographers such as Jay Maisel, Joe Baraban, and William Albert Allard.

Her photography career began with a solo exhibition in 1988, and her work has since been featured widely in books, magazines, private collections, and numerous solo shows. Bass is especially recognized for her garden and landscape photography, captured with a signature clarity and sensitivity to light. She is the author of two acclaimed photography books—In the Garden, a bestselling survey of American gardens, and Gardens at First Light, a collection of more than 200 images taken at dawn across twelve private Northeastern gardens.

In 2025, Bass published Lightkeeper: A Memoir Through the Lens of Love and Loss, her debut work as a memoirist. The book explores the profound losses of her father and mother, reflecting on how photography, storytelling, and memory shaped her journey through grief and resilience.

Today, Stacy Waldman Bass continues her work as a photographer and author, sharing her vision through exhibitions, publications, and personal creative projects.

Lightkeeper: A Memoir Through the Lens of Love and Loss

Stacy Waldman Bass

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