Talking with Lee Carlson, Author of A Single Excellent Night: A Man, a Mentor & a Moment in Time

From journalist and internationally recognized author Lee Carlson comes a life-changing memoir about our journey to seek meaning and the personal relationships we build along the way.

A Single Excellent Night weaves together awakening experiences and pivotal realizations from the first four years of a 15-year apprenticeship Lee Carlson spent with Peter Matthiessen. The relationship between these two men, Zen teacher/student, writer mentor/mentee, trusted confidants and friends, unfolds in beautiful stories as Carlson goes on a quest to the furthest limits of human understanding and mindfulness, culminating with a single magical event on a winter beach.

Layered with profound insights on identity, belonging, and suffering, A Single Excellent Night is more than a book about Zen, spiritual awakening, and the enlightenment found in presence. It is a book about meaningful relationships, healing, love, and community. Unpacking the wisdom and teachings of towering literary figures like Peter Matthiessen and spiritual teachers like Joanna Macy, Carlson invites readers to experience the rare fusion of lived memory and meditative inquiry—a search for insight shaped by Zen practice, poetic prose, and the lasting imprint of a literary legacy. (see more here)

Gary Sanders and Dana Gornall talk with Lee Carlson, traumatic brain injury survivor, journalist, former magazine editor and Zen practitioner. Lee’s previous memoir, Passage to Nirvana goes into his journey of near death to recovering from an accident that caused a Traumatic Brain Injury. We discuss some of his background and story along with his latest work, A Single Excellent Night.

Lee’s website here: https://leecarlson.life/

Purchase A Single Excellent Night here: https://leecarlson.life/a-single-excellent-night

Amazon

Passage to Nirvana here: https://leecarlson.life/passage-to-nirvana

Podcast edited by Brad Parsons at Train Sound Studio, www.trainsoundstudio.com

Apple Podcasts

Spotify