Summertime Walk at Catwalk with Jean Zimmerman

At Catwalk, visitors will discover gracious lawns shaded by majestic trees during a guided stroll through the estate’s carefully cultivated landscape. The event will include a reading, an informal writing workshop, and refreshments.

A multiple-term resident at Catwalk, Jean Zimmerman explores the estate’s natural history in her forthcoming memoir, Of Heartwood and Woundwood: An Unlikely Arborist’s Path to Courage and Joy (Broadleaf, Fall 2026). Over a decades-long career, Zimmerman has authored critically acclaimed fiction and nonfiction and, as a Certified Arborist, has advised municipalities on preserving the health and longevity of their trees.

Due to the loss of her vocal abilities as a result of ALS, Jean will present the Summertime Walk using AI voice-clone technology.

Saturday, June 27, 2026, at 2 PM

(rain date: Sunday, June 28, at 2 PM)

Catwalk Institute

4 NY- 385 Catskill, NY 12414

Reserve your spot:

jcz@ix.netcom.com

Jean Zimmerman

Jean Zimmerman’s books have explored the history and culture of the Hudson Valley. Her acclaimed The Women of the House: How a Colonial She Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty (2006, Harcourt) is the primary source about the Philipse family, who settled in Yonkers in the 1600s and went on to found a 57,000-acre estate encompassing present day Westchester County. Her duel biography Love, Fiercely, A Gilded Age Love Story profiles a pair of well-to-do philanthropists, one of whom grew up at lavish “Locust Wood” the estate of billionaire 19th-century merchant Robert Bowne Minturn in Hastings-on-Hudson, Zimmerman’s home town.

This June, Catwalk Institute presents Resonance: The Return of Catwalk Artists— a multi-day program bringing select alumni back to the Catskills. Timed to coincide with the creative energy surrounding Upstate Art Weekend (June 25–29), artists will share their work through performances, talks, workshops, readings, and pop-up installations at historically significant partner venues, cultural institutions, libraries, restaurants, and community spaces. This opportunity aims to strengthen ties between artists and the Catskill community.