About this Event
Moderating the conversation Emmy-Awarding winning entertainment reporter Joelle Garguilo. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.
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ACCESSIBILITY:
Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator. Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.
ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at [email protected] by Oct 5 to request.
For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact [email protected].
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From beloved content creator Taryn Delanie Smith, comes a luminous and comforting vision of the afterlife—told through her beloved character, Denise, Heaven’s sharp-witted and big-hearted receptionist.
For millions of followers, Denise has become a guide to the great beyond: welcoming new arrivals at Heaven’s front desk, answering their most pressing questions, and offering reassurance with humor, grace, and a knowing wink. What is there to do in Heaven? Can our loved ones still sense us? What about our pets? Do we get to choose our eternal outfit? Denise has heard it all—and she’s ready with answers that are as thoughtful as they are disarming.
In Welcome to the Afterlife, Smith expands the world that has captivated those who know her from social media, inviting readers on a richly imagined tour of the “Upstairs.” From horseback riding and bingo nights to flying lessons and long-awaited reunions, Heaven is revealed as a place of joy, restoration, and deep connection. But Denise doesn’t shy away from the harder questions: What happens to unfinished business? How are babies cared for? How do we forgive ourselves—and each other—once we’ve crossed over?
Along the way, we meet unforgettable souls, and with each encounter, Denise gently reminds us that love endures, and that those we’ve lost are never truly far away.
Behind the humor and sparkle lies Smith’s own grounding in philosophy and religion, lending depth and nuance to Denise’s voice. The result is a work that is at once playful and profound—a comforting meditation on grief, grace, and the invisible threads that bind us to one another.
Warm, funny, and unexpectedly wise, Welcome to the Afterlife offers solace to anyone who has loved and lost—and a hopeful reminder that what awaits us may be far less frightening, and far more beautiful, than we imagine.
Photo credit: Brendan Wixted
Taryn Delanie Smith is a writer, performer, and creator who started her career as a receptionist in New York City, a job she worked while earning her master's degree in communication and intercultural studies that later inspired her creation of Denise, Heaven's Receptionist. Smith's character has since amassed over tens of millions of views across social media, becoming an unlikely home where those experiencing grief can find humor and human connection. A Seattle native, she lives in Hudson Valley, New York, with her husband and their Great Dane, Bruce. Welcome to the Afterlife is her debut book.
Joelle Garguilo is a three-time Emmy® Award-winning entertainment reporter for WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News. A native New Yorker, Joelle has spent nearly two decades in broadcast television covering entertainment, pop culture and human-interest stories.
Event venue & nearby stays
Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway, New York, United States
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