A new collection of late Portland writer Brian Doyle's work arrives at the Lake Oswego Public Library on Nov. 5.

His wife, editor Mary Miller Doyle, will present "Wonder Is a Lovely Place to Be" at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the library, 706 Fourth St. Bill Baars and John and Cindy McPhee will also appear.

The 288-page book, published by Ave Maria Press in August, gathers 365 pieces of Doyle's writing and art. Oregon ArtsWatch described it as "a whimsical combination of book and calendar," organized day by day starting Jan. 1.

Brian Doyle was the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland for 25 years and the author of about 30 books on spirituality, family, nature and the human heart. He died May 27, 2017, after a battle with a brain tumor, according to his publisher. He was 60.

His honors included three Pushcart Prizes, the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Award in Literature and the 2017 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing. The Oregon Encyclopedia recorded that he once called himself "a story catcher."

Mary Miller Doyle, a Portland artist who worked for nearly a decade as a teaching artist with the Children's Healing Art Project, selected a mix of published and unpublished excerpts from her husband's stockpile of writing.

Brian Doyle wrote on envelopes, inside book jackets and on the backs of menus, leaving behind material that had never been collected. She wove in his artwork, along with previously unseen stories, poems, sketches and cartoons.

She told Oregon ArtsWatch writer Amy Wang in a Sept. 11 interview that she started with a seasonal structure but realized the book traced the arc of Brian Doyle's life and "the things that were important to him."

"He didn't ignore things that were bad, but he would acknowledge them, but he would move on," she said. "… There was that beauty of his faith, I think, that really just pushed him through to believe that there was more good than bad in all of us."

The project began when Ave Maria Press editorial director Josh Noem, who had worked with Brian Doyle at the University of Portland, approached Mary Miller Doyle about the collection.

Upcoming events:

• Thursday, Nov. 5, 5:30 p.m. — Lake Oswego Public Library, 706 Fourth St., Lake Oswego. Mary Miller Doyle presents "Wonder Is a Lovely Place to Be" with Bill Baars and John and Cindy McPhee.
• Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. — University of Portland, Buckley Center Auditorium. Mary Miller Doyle discusses the collection.