WINONA, Minn. – The author of “Hugs Help,” Randy Stocker, will speak at the Watkins Manor Great Hall on August 31 on coping with grief. Time: 6:30 p.m., 175 EastWabasha Streetin Winona. Free. Tami Groth, Winona Health chaplain, said she was inspired invite Stocker after hearing him at a conference: “I was touched by his deep passion for grief support and his unique ability to connect with those he speaks to.” Stocker, from Rochester, calls himself “a survivor of unbearable grief” after a 2003 accident in which two daughters and his mother were killed by a distracted truck driver. He has formed numerous bereavement groups and speaks widely abut grief.

Stocker. On loss, resilience, grief. Published by Authorhouse, 2022. 174 pages.