Writer. Minister. Adventurer.

After spending twenty-five years working at two of Boston’s premier educational institutions, Harvard University and Phillips Academy, Andover, the author currently leads the chaplaincy program at Harvard-Westlake, a private secondary school in Los Angeles.

An Episcopal minister by day, Reverend Gardner also finds time to work as a freelance writer. Her essays and columns have been featured in The National Catholic Reporter, The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal, New England Tennis Magazine, and most recently as part of WBUR’s Cognoscenti series, Boston’s NPR affiliate.

Her debut book, And So I Walked, recounts her journey of traversing the 500-mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Using the famed pilgrimage path as a backdrop, Gardner’s memoir weaves together her personal narrative with the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges presented by the Camino. Inspirational, and at times heart-wrenching, And So I Walked explores how faith, family, and friendship both change us and sustain us.

A native of Massachusetts, the author now lives in California with her wife Beth.

*The release date of And So I Walked was March 1, 2022, published by Adelaide Books (244 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY)