Living Awake
An evening of story, film, and remembrance, celebrating the release of Live and Die Awake.
when
5:00 to 9:00 in the evening
where
3650 17th Street
Sarasota, Florida
admission
benefiting
Story, film, and remembrance.
Story
The evening celebrates the release of Live and Die Awake: On Love, Loss, and Living Fully.
Film
There will be a screening of the documentary A Butterfly Has Been Released, and a conversation with Barry Koch, its co-producer.
Remembrance
Eighteen Memory Tables, each set in memory of one person or several. Sponsors co-create their own remembrance: photographs, keepsakes, written memories, other personal touches.
the screening
A Butterfly Has Been Released
- runtime
- 36 minutes
- made by
- Jason Zamer and Barry Koch, TGBeyond
Join hospice nurse Allyson's 39-day journey, living and dying with brain cancer. With unfiltered honesty, authenticity, and humor, Allyson invites her community to celebrate with a living funeral, which she hosts at home, and after her death, at a natural, green burial.
After the screening, a conversation with Barry Koch, its co-producer, in person.
If you cannot be there, Rent it from the Hospice Foundation of America. $4.99, 72 hour access.
“Some moments crack the heart wide open and then, quietly, teach us how to live.”
Julie Wright Halbert
Julie's husband Jim died within three weeks of a sudden diagnosis.
The book comes out on November 4, 2026, the birthday of Cynthia, Julie's mother and the grandmother of her sons.
what the evening is for
The evening raises money for Blue Butterfly, and toward opening a center in Tampa.
All event donations go to the Living and Dying Awake Compassion Fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, benefiting Empath Blue Butterfly Children's Grief Care. The program gives children and their caregivers a place to grieve after a death.
The fund is held at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. 100% of donations support the fund.
Three ways to be part of it.
Come
Let Julie know you are coming and how many seats to hold.
No ticket, no charge
Sponsor a Memory Table
A table for ten guests, set in memory of one person or several, and co-created by you.
One thousand dollars, and there are eighteen
Give to the fund
A gift to the Living and Dying Awake Compassion Fund, whatever the size, whether or not you can be there.
Any amount
Living Awake
Sunday, November 1, 2026, Harvest House, 3650 17th Street, Sarasota