Several years ago, Bill Henderson saw a 3 1/2-acre property near Bar Harbor, Me. , on top of a hill overlooking the sea and surrounded by blueberry fields. “I came up in February,” said Mr. Henderson, who founded Pushcart Press and has written several books. “My breath was taken away. You can see forever. It was so peaceful. It was like heaven. ”It’s fitting, then, that after building a summer cabin and a sea-viewing tower on the property, Mr. Henderson, 73, constructed a small stone “cathedral. ” He was influenced, in part, by the Gothic cathedral in Chartres, France, which he had visited decades ago as a young man living in and traveling around the country. Working with stones taken from a nearby quarry and “learning by doing,” as he put it, Mr. Henderson spent several years building the church layer by layer — a quixotic project that came to a halt after he was found to have cancer. But he rallied to finish and has written a poetic memoir that details the building process and wrestles with matters of mortality and spirituality, “Cathedral: An Illness and a Healing” (Pushcart Press, $22). Shortly before the winter cold was set to sweep in and he was to return for the winter to his primary residence on Long Island, Mr. Henderson spoke by phone from Maine. (This interview has been edited and condensed. )Q. What inspired you to build the cathedral?, A. , This was strictly a religious thing. It was a spiritual thing. I wanted something that I would call holy on the property. In your book, you express complicated feelings about organized religion as the son of strict adherents. , My father didn’t want to debate or discuss religion. Jesus was the savior — that’s it. From puberty, when I was a fan of Nietzsche, Kant and, particularly, Thoreau, I wanted nothing to do with religion. I wandered off. I had a great time in New York in the ’70s. I was totally lost from my college years on. I used to bike through the East Hampton woods and wish for a bush to burn up in front of me so I’d know what was going on. But I went back to church on a blustery day in 1991 and realized this was my home. These people had a sense of wonder. The worst thing about religion is it can crush you: all these tiny rules that can send you to hell. It’s all about love and wonder. That’s what religion should be about. That’s what my little cathedral is all about. Did you consult books or visit cathedrals beforehand?,

• published: 22 Oct 2014
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