The Empty Chair

C H R O N O L O G Y

1934—Kura is born.

1952—Cassiopeia (“Queenie”) is born.

1954—Kelly is born.

1960—Charley is born.

1967—Charley is molested by clergy through 1972.

1968—Kura and Queenie meet at a club in Chicago. A few months later, they reunite in Paris.

1970—They visit a guru in Bombay. Queenie stays four months; Kura remains for seven years.

1976—Kelly becomes a Buddhist. Her practice deepens over the next 25 years.

1977—Kura’s teacher disappears from the ashram. After months of fruitless searching, he returns to his home in the Marais.

1990—Kelly and Charley’s son Ryder is born.

1992—Kura has a heart attack. During convalescence, he renews the search for his teacher.

1997—After a near 30-year separation, Kura and Queenie rendezvous in New Delhi. She accompanies him to a remote village.

1997—Charley becomes a plaintiff in a class action suit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.

1998—Kura dies at 63.

1999—Kelly’s mother dies; she and Charley are wed. Kelly takes a sabbatical from school teaching and tutors prisoners in the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation. She eventually helms a popular special education program for children. Kelly signs a contract to write a memoir.

2001—Kelly and Charley experience a terrible loss. Charley receives a settlement.

2005—Queenie tells her story (“Second Guru”).

2010—Charley tells his story (“First Guru”).