ABOUT THE BOOK

This is the memoir of a woman born in 1940 to a family of sixteen children in a highly isolated area of Saskatchewan, Canada, at the edge of the Canadian Prairie. The opening chapters vividly portray the many contrasts in the life of its author, Myrna Denham Porter. The opening chapters vividly portray the many contrasts in Porter’s early life, from the piercing beauty of the Canadian emerald skies to the primal power of wild animals who roamed the property on which her family lived and struggled to survive. The serene natural beauty surrounding the Denham farm was a sharp contrast to her harsh father and the extreme poverty in which the family lived. The farm on which the family lived was at the edge of the Canadian Prairies where education was limited and basic material needs were unavailable.

Leaving the two-room blue house at the age of fourteen, Myrna traveled 100 miles only returning home twice in the years ahead to attend school. Deeply ashamed of the poverty she had left behind, Myrna was driven to forge a new life. Early childhood schooling in a one-room schoolhouse barely equipped her to pass the more rigorous standards at Wynyard High. Myrna entered the United States for her last year of high school. A loving aunt and uncle took her into their Chicago home, the first in a series of impactful mentoring relationships that helped her move towards inner strength and confidence. 

Throughout the memoir, the panorama of Myrna’s life interlaces with an unfolding inquiry into meaning and purpose—a quest that endures even into her elder years. When Myrna fell deeply in love with financial genius Stu Porter in her late twenties, she was enjoying the glamorous life of a United Airlines stewardess. Together they raised two sons, while Myrna simultaneously gained an undergraduate and graduate degree in nursing and clinical social work. In the 50’s and 60’s few women went to college. During the couple’s late to middle years both Myrna and her husband were diagnosed with cancer. Myrna and husband were determined to find purpose and meaning out of their difficult cancer experience. The couple worked together to create impressive not for profit organizations in an effort to help cancer survivors and their families. Myrna’s elder years brought deep sorrow, including the death of her husband, but there was also hope. A visit to The Holy Land conferred a spiritual epiphany revealing the archetypal pattern of her entire life, while a first-time visit to the graves of her parents unlocks deep forgiveness and compassion. In The Blue House, the author, Porter, a Registered Nurse and Licensed Clinical Social Worker and co-author Jacob Shefa, a Transpersonal Psychologist, deploy their educational and professional experience to illuminate the trials and triumphs Myrna experienced within her life. Throughout the memoir, Myrna’s life interlaces with an unfolding inquiry into meaning and purpose—a quest that endures even into her elder years. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Myrna Porter received her R.N. from Harper College in Illinois, a bachelors of science in psychology from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, now Loyola University and Master’s in Clinical Social Work at Loyola University.

She worked in private practice counseling for a number of years, with a speciality focused on eating disorders. She is the Co-founder of a not-for-profit cancer support center that served countless communities and cancer survivors in the northwest suburban communities in the Chicago area. She is also the Co-founder of one of the first prostate walks in Illinois, which is a major fundraiser for Us TOO International, an organization that supports and psychologically educates prostate cancer survivors and their families. 

In California, Porter is actively involved with the Palm Desert Middle School KARE (kindness, attention, respect and excellence) Program.

TALKING POINTS

• How to find purpose throughout your life – Purpose is our reason for being steeped in Christian values and philanthropy.  
• Elder advice on life – how to live a truly fulfilling life with meaning. 
• How faith has played a role in Myrna’s life, from her religious upbringing to a late-life visit to The Holy Land of Israel. 
• The power of forgiveness, and how a spiritual epiphany revealed to Myrna an archetypal pattern of her entire life – and how a first-time visit to the graves of her parents unlocks deep forgiveness and compassion. 
• Mental aptitude and how it can be tied to empathic and radical curiosity – Myrna, and her co-author Dr. Jacob Shefa, PhD are available to discuss their expertise on these topics. 
• How to fundraise and raise awareness for community impact programs, Myrna is actively involved with the Palm Desert Middle School KARE (kindness, attention, respect and excellence) Program.