# Event Details - **Event Name**: Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin - **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 24 Feb, 2026 at 06:00 pm – Tue, 24 Feb, 2026 at 07:30 pm - **Event Description**: Mechanics' Hall & Print: A Bookstore present a conversation between the authors around Laura's latest book.About this Event“An unflinching look at private worlds of pain and a forceful denunciation of America’s for-profit healthcare system.” — Publishers Weekly When twenty-seven-year-old Laura Mauldin moved to New York for graduate school, she fell headlong into love. But just months into the relationship, her partner’s leukemia returned—and in a country without adequate systems for long-term care, Laura found herself quietly and devastatingly transformed from romantic partner to unpaid, full-time caregiver, fighting to keep the woman she loved alive in a system designed to let them both fall through the cracks.Now a sociologist and professor of disability studies, Dr. Mauldin turns her private pain into a searing public investigation. To better understand her own experience, she speaks with couples across the country navigating the brutal, lonely fallout of chronic illness and disability. These are heartbreaking stories of love under strain — relationships full of extraordinary intimacy and resilience, but pushed to the edge by an ableist society that would rather look away from its most vulnerable citizens. At the heart of this investigation is a profound series of questions: What if love isn’t enough? What if our most cherished romantic ideals—commitment, sacrifice, “in sickness and in health” — have been weaponized to excuse the state from its responsibilities? And what happens to love when we ask it to do the work of an entire broken system?Urgent, unflinching, and full of grace, In Sickness and In Health is a rallying cry for a radical reimagining of care—not as an individual act of devotion, but as a collective responsibility. In connecting the care crisis to the politics of love and intimacy, Mauldin reframes the conversation, urging us to build a world where no one is left to do the work of love alone.Tuesday, February 24 at 6:00 PM (doors 5:30 PM). $7 for MH members, $10 for general admission. No one turned away for lack of funds at the door.ASL interpretation provided. ABOUT THE AUTHORLaura Mauldin is a writer and scholar based in New York City, an associate professor in the Department of Social and Critical Inquiry at the University of Connecticut, and was a 2024 Fellow with New America. ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNERMira Ptacin is a literary journalist, memoirist, New York Times best-selling ghostwriter, editor, and professor of creative writing. She is the author of the award-winning memoir Poor Your Soul (Soho Press, 2016), which was named a best book of the year by Kirkus Books, where it received a rare “starred” review. She’s also the author of the genre-blending book of feminist history, memoir, and ethnography, The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna (Liveright-W.W. Norton, 2019), which the New York Times lauded as the best book to read during a pandemic. Mira’s writing frequently appears in the New York Times, New York Times Book Review, Vogue, Poets and Writers, Harper’s, Tin House, LitHub, and more. She received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, where she was editor-at-large of their literary magazine, LUMINA. Mira lives on Peaks Island, Maine, and is currently working on her next book. PARKING & TRANSPORTATIONMechanics’ Hall is located at 519 Congress Street. Our main entrance is between Loquat Shop and the Art Mart. The Greater Portland Metro’s Congress & Casco Street Stop is directly in front of our building, served by .Parking is available at the , which has entrances on Casco and Brown Street, with a rate of $5 per hour. Metered street parking is available on Congress, Casco, Cumberland, Free Street, and other nearby streets. Free hourly street parking is available between Parris and Alder Street.ACCESSIBILITYTo enter our building, patrons will need to navigate a single step or use a . There is a wheelchair-accessible elevator to the third-floor ballroom.If you have a particular accessibility question or request please contact us at . - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/portland/laura-mauldins-in-sickness-and-in-health-w-mira-ptacin/100001977626043733 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, health-wellness, nonprofit - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 41.32, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Portland - **state**: ME - **country**: United States - **location**: Mechanics' Hall - **lat**: 43.6562436 - **long**: -70.2611664 - **full address**: Mechanics' Hall, 519 Congress Street, Portland, United States ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/c4c38dedd452acdfa00686ae24a73d1ab60cba663951c3b203bb49b89ba34067-rimg-w1200-h600-dc657c8f-gmir.jpg?v=1766309178 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin being held? - **A:** Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin takes place on Tue, 24 Feb, 2026 at 06:00 pm to Tue, 24 Feb, 2026 at 07:30 pm at Mechanics' Hall, 519 Congress Street, Portland, United States. - **Q**: How much do tickets cost for Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin? - **A:** Tickets for Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin are priced at USD 41 per person. Here's a full breakdown of available ticket types:Ticket TypePriceAvailabilityMechanics' Hall Member AdmissionUSD 9 + USD 2 feeAvailableGeneral AdmissionUSD 13 + USD 3 feeAvailableBook + General AdmissionUSD 41 + USD 4 feeAvailableDonate to support Mechanics' HallFreeAvailable - **Q**: Who is organizing Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin? - **A:** Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin is organized by Mechanics' Hall (Maine). - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin is ideal for art lovers, collectors, creatives, and anyone inspired by visual arts, installations, and exhibitions. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Portland, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Laura Mauldin's 'In Sickness and in Health' w/ Mira Ptacin", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/c4c38dedd452acdfa00686ae24a73d1ab60cba663951c3b203bb49b89ba34067-rimg-w1200-h600-dc657c8f-gmir.jpg?v=1766309178", "startDate": "2026-02-24", "endDate": "2026-02-24", "url": "https://allevents.in/portland/laura-mauldins-in-sickness-and-in-health-w-mira-ptacin/100001977626043733", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Mechanics' Hall", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "519 Congress Street", "postalCode": "04101", "addressLocality": "Portland", "addressRegion": "ME", "addressCountry": "US" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "43.6562436", "longitude": "-70.2611664" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Mechanics' Hall & Print: A Bookstore present a conversation between the authors around Laura's latest book.", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-08", "availabilityEnds": "2026-02-24", "validFrom": "2026-04-08", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "41.32", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/portland/laura-mauldins-in-sickness-and-in-health-w-mira-ptacin/100001977626043733" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-08", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-08", "url": "https://allevents.in/portland/laura-mauldins-in-sickness-and-in-health-w-mira-ptacin/100001977626043733", "price": "9.31", "name": "Mechanics' Hall Member Admission" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-08", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-08", "url": "https://allevents.in/portland/laura-mauldins-in-sickness-and-in-health-w-mira-ptacin/100001977626043733", "price": "12.51", "name": "General Admission" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-08", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-08", "url": "https://allevents.in/portland/laura-mauldins-in-sickness-and-in-health-w-mira-ptacin/100001977626043733", "price": "41.32", "name": "Book + General Admission" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-08", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-08", "url": "https://allevents.in/portland/laura-mauldins-in-sickness-and-in-health-w-mira-ptacin/100001977626043733", "price": 0, "name": "Donate to support Mechanics' Hall" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Mechanics Hall (Maine)", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/mechanics-hall-maine/17787266", "description": "Mechanics' Hall inspires and enriches the community by promoting ingenuity, creativity, innovation, and the diffusion of useful knowledge." } ] } ] ```