Wild Heart

For Dr. Stacey Marie Kerr, a road is only worth traveling if it comes with some unexpected turns. In her midfifties, Dr. Stacey Kerr was diagnosed with osteoporosis and told to play it safe. Instead, she bought her first Harley. Over the next fourteen years, Stacey and her two best friends decided to give the finger to aging gracefully, ultimately embarking on seven epic motorcycle tours throughout the western United States filled with drama, introspection, and pure joy. Using her motorcycle adventures to guide her memories, Stacey travels the twisting road of her own past, in which the only constant is defying expectations. As a young woman, Stacey escaped an authoritarian childhood to join the counterculture of the sixties. On The Farm, the largest hippie commune in the United States, she spent a decade practicing intentional spirituality. There, she came to admire, and ultimately clash with, the mother of spiritual midwifery—Ina May Gaskin. In her midthirties, Stacey would reject convention once again by going to medical school and transforming her life. As Stacey rides the curving highways of the West, she reflects on marriage and motherhood; the cultlike energy of powerful spiritual leaders; the miracles, traumas, and lessons of a physician’s life, including a near-fatal delivery of her own grandson; her long-held belief in the healing power of cannabis; and the vital necessity of love at every stage of life, from birth to death and beyond. Written with irreverence and good humor, Wild Heart is an inspiring memoir for anyone ready to make braver and bolder choices—at any age.