From the award-winning author of Die Wise comes a poetic, meditative and honest memoir that dares to grapples with the indescriminate nature of illness

Stephen Jenkinson is perhaps best known for his work helping people navigate grief, death, and dying. Now, he confronts an “undoing” of his own in the form of the degenerative neurological condition known as Parkinson’s disease.

In Trembling Still Stephen details his experience—beginning with his diagnosis—through a collection of musings, stories, and reflections on life and illness, both poignant and poetic as his fine-motor skills and cognitive abilities begin to decline. 

Written as a series of entries beginning January 3, 2024, and ending with an epilogue dated July 17, 2025, Trembling Still is a lyrical and meditative journey that will find its way both to Stephen’s well-established audience and to a broader readership.

About The Author

Stephen Jenkinson is a culture activist, worker, and author. He has taught internationally and is the creator of the Orphan Wisdom Schook, cofounded with his wife Nathalie Roy in 2010. He apprenticed with a master storyteller as a young man and received a master’s degree in theology at Harvard University and a master’s of social work from the University of Toronto. Stephen has worked extensively with dying people and their families, formerly serving as the director of palliative care at Mount Sinai Hospital of Toronto. In 2023, Stephen received a Distinguished Alumni Honours Award from Harvard University for “helping people navigate grief, exploring the liminal space between life and death, and connecting humanity through ceremony and storytelling.” 

Stephen is the author of Reckoning (co-written with Kimberly Ann Johnson in 2022), A Generation’s Worth: Spirit Work While the Crisis Reigns (2021), Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble (2018), the award-winning Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul (2015), Homecoming: The Haiku Sessions (a live teaching from 2013), How It All Could Be: A Workbook for Dying People and Those Who Love Them (2009), Angel and Executioner: Grief and the Love of Life (a live teaching from 2009), and Money and The Soul’s Desires: A Meditation (2002). He was a contributing author to Palliative Care – Core Skills and Clinical Competencies (2007). Stephen’s newest book is Matrimony: Ritual, Culture, and the Heart’s Work (published by Sounds True).