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Writer and former filmmaker GRETEL EHRLICH is the author of "The Solace of Open Spaces," a col...

Fresh Air

Published September 1, 1994 at 11:00 PM CDT

2: Writer and former filmmaker GRETEL EHRLICH is the author of "The Solace of Open Spaces," a collection of essays about life on Wyoming's high plains. It was while walking on the Wyoming plains that EHRLICH was struck by lightning. The force of it threw her forty feet, severly damaged part of her nervous system, and sent her into a "solitary limbo." EHRLICH returned to her parents' home for medical treatment and began trying to understand what happened to her. She found explanations in medical books and in The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which described a wandering state between life and death, confusion and enlightenment. EHRLICH's new book is "A Match to the Heart." (Pantheon) (Rebroadcast. Originally aired 6