You are invited to the duluth book Signing on May 22!
Coming in May 2025
A priest is called, and an unexpected journey begins.
“A compelling account of faith in action.”
—George Stephanopoulos
meet the authors
PATRA McSHARRY SEVASTIADES began her professional career editing scientific papers by Soviet emigre scientists. She is the author of nine children's nonfiction books, including The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and The Hoover Dam. She edited Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation; The Gospel of Love: A Meta-Translation; and Loyalty: A Biography of Richard Gustavovich Reusch.
In addition to being a writer, she was formerly editorial director at the Rosen Publishing Group in New York and executive director of the Duluth Library Foundation.
Her newest endeavor, Grace Unbound, recounts the remarkable sojourn of co-author Bishop Demetrios C. Kantzavelos and his unexpected calling, while still a young priest, to social activism.
Patra is the widow of Fr. Philemon Sevastiades, a Greek Orthodox priest. She was blessed to remarry, and she and her husband, Dean Casperson, live in Duluth, Minnesota. They have seven children and nine grandchildren.
BISHOP DEMETRIOS C. KANTZAVELOS (Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos) has been a clergyman for more than thirty years and a bishop for more than eighteen years. He retired from active ministry in early 2023 after a long career with the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago.
Between 1992 and 2017, he was a dynamic leader in social activism, earning numerous awards for his groundbreaking AIDS ministry and his successful advocacy to abolish the death penalty in Illinois. His extensive interfaith, ecumenical, and Greek Orthodox networks, growing media presence, and broad social connections in Chicago have made him a recognized figure. He has been featured over a dozen times in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, radio, and YouTube.
Bishop Demetrios resides in Chicago, Illinois, and in a rural village in the Peloponnese region of Greece.
MORE REVIEWS OF GRACE UNBOUND: THE SACRED ACTIVISM OF AN ORTHODOX BISHOP
“[Bishop Demetrios has] written a book of courage, determination, hard work, and a laser-like focus on a commitment made as a young man. In an age of terrible uncertainty and calamity, this book should serve as a model for all those who are searching for purpose in their lives.”
—Bill Kurtis, television journalist, television producer, narrator, news anchor, and announcer on "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!", from the Foreword
“As a founding member of ACT UP, I’ve protested against the AIDS response from mainstream religions, including being arrested inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral. But, even then, I knew that these institutions weren’t monolithic. There were internal struggles to do the right thing. Bishop Demetrios’ stirring account of pushing the Greek Orthodox Diocese (now Metropolis) of Chicago towards a compassionate response during the early years of the crisis proves that AIDS activism came in many forms, full of empathy and inspiration.”
—Peter Staley, author of Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism
“Social ministry, [Bishop Demetrios] argues, is not breaking with the tradition of the church—it is reclaiming it. . . . I recommend Grace Unbound highly to anyone interested in the church and its ministries of justice, service, and peace.”
—Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, former General Secretary, National Council of Churches
“Grace Unbound is a moving portrait of the power of empathy, faith, and hope enduring. Bishop Demetrios’ story illustrates how, by drawing from a deep sense of purpose, we can respond to injustice with compassion and unwavering resolve.”
—George M. Logothetis, Executive Chairman of Libra Group, Chairman of Libra Philanthropies