In the Company of Grace
A Veterinarian's Memoir of Trauma and Healing
In the Company of Grace is Jody Lulich’s moving memoir about finding courage in compassion and strength in healing—and power in finally confronting the darkness of his youth. He explains his path to veterinary medicine and how caring for helpless, voiceless animals amidst his own shame and pain provided a lifeline, and a chance to heal himself as well.
In the Company of Grace is haunting and powerful. Jody Lulich has written an absorbing meditation on his lifelong journey from a helpless child who witnessed his beloved mother take her own life to finding acceptance through the unconditional love of an elderly woman and redemption in caring for animals. An unforgettable and inspiring memoir.
Carolyn Holbrook, author of Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify
Rising to accept a prestigious award, Jody Lulich wondered what to say. Explain how he’d been attracted to veterinary medicine? Describe how caring for helpless, voiceless animals in his own shame and pain provided a lifeline, a chance to heal himself as well? Lulich tells his story in In the Company of Grace, a memoir about finding courage in compassion and strength in healing—and power in finally confronting the darkness of his youth.
Lulich’s white father and Black mother met at a civil rights rally, but love was no defense against their personal demons. His mother’s suicide, in his presence when he was nine years old, and his sometimes brutal father’s subsequent withdrawal set Lulich on a course from the South Side of Chicago to the Tuskegee School of Veterinary Medicine in Alabama to an endowed chair at the University of Minnesota, forever searching for the approval and affection that success could not deliver. Though shadowed by troubling secrets, his memoir also features scenes of surprising light and promise—of the neighbors who take him in, a brother’s unlikely effort to save Christmas, his mother’s memories of the family’s charmed early days, bright moments (and many curious details) of veterinary practice. Most consequentially, at Tuskegee Lulich rents a room in the home of a seventy-five-year-old Black woman named Grace, whose wholehearted adoption of him and her own stories of the Jim Crow era finally gives him a sense of belonging and possibility.
Completing his book in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, Lulich reflects on all the ways that race has shaped his life. In the Company of Grace is a moving testament to the power of compassion in the face of seemingly overwhelming circumstances.
Cover alt text: Four rectangles with photo of Grace in upper right and author with dog at lower left. Title and author in upper left and lower right, respectively.
Awards
Minnesota Book Award — Finalist, Memoir & Creative Nonfiction category
In the Company of Grace is haunting and powerful. Jody Lulich has written an absorbing meditation on his lifelong journey from a helpless child who witnessed his beloved mother take her own life to finding acceptance through the unconditional love of an elderly woman and redemption in caring for animals. An unforgettable and inspiring memoir.
Carolyn Holbrook, author of Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify
Despite suffering true tragedies as a child, Jody Lulich grew up to be a veterinarian who shows deep compassion to both people and animals. His devotion to his mentor and mother figure, Grace Hooks, inspires admiration and an understanding of a true loving relationship. Don't miss this remarkable book.
Laura Shaine Cunningham, author of Sleeping Arrangements
Lulich's memoir is raw, introspective, and honest.
Insight News
Melancholy and hard, but compelling because the tales don’t ever become what you think they’ll be. Oddly enough, there’s triumph here, and exactly what readers will want in the end.
The Washington Informer
Contents
Prologue
Part I. Mother
Part II. Without Her
Part III. Grace
Part IV. Animal Doctor
Part V. Letting the Light In
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
