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Wishful Thinking: How I Lost My Faith and Why I Want to Find It
By Donna Freitas. 2024
Donna Freitas wants to believe. Raised Catholic, she sang songs about Jesus as a child and lived in a house…
where nuns and priests were regular guests, yet she found herself questioning the faith of her family, examining the reasons none of it added up, and distancing herself from the God of Christianity. Despite her questions—or perhaps because of them—she made a career out of trying to understand God, pursuing a PhD in religion. But even as she taught college students about mystics, theologians, and others who wrestled with God, she was never able to embrace a faith of her own. In this searingly honest and deeply personal book, Freitas retraces her roundabout path up and out of the wilderness toward hope, and her dogged—and ongoing—search for faith. She talks about her experience with the Catholic abuse scandal, about being embraced as a speaker at evangelical colleges, about how the death of her mother and the loss of her marriage made her question everything she thought she knew about love, how she cannot reconcile the ways the concept of God makes absolutely no sense, and how she cannot stop trying to believe, despite it all. Real, raw, and beautifully written, Wishful Thinking is a powerful story about the author&’s search for belief in God and about finding God in the most unexpected places.Rabbit Heart: A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Story
By Kristine S. Ervin. 2024
A Washington Post &“Most Anticipated&” Book of the Year • A New York Times &“Must Read&”For readers of My Dark…
Places and The Fact of a Body, a beautiful, brutal memoir documenting one woman&’s search for identity alongside her family's decades-long quest to identify the two men who abducted—and murdered—her mother"Melding true crime with memoir, Ervin reminds us of what happens when we conflate people with the transgressions committed against them—the collateral damage we inflict when we turn human beings into moral allegory . . . A powerful treatise on love and loss, on mothers and daughters, but it is also a warning to all of us who consume true crime." —The New York Times Book ReviewKristine S. Ervin was just eight years old when her mother, Kathy Sue Engle, was abducted from an Oklahoma mall parking lot and violently murdered in an oil field. First, there was grief. Then the desire to know: what happened to her, what she felt in her last terrible moments, and all she was before these acts of violence defined her life.In her mother&’s absence, Ervin tries to reconstruct a woman she can never fully grasp—from her own memory, from letters she uncovers, and from the stories of other family members. As more information about her mother's death comes to light, Ervin&’s drive to know her mother only intensifies, winding into her own fraught adolescence. She reckons with contradictions of what a woman is allowed to be—a self beyond the roles of wife, mother, daughter, victim—what a &“true&” victim is supposed to look like, and, finally, how complicated and elusive justice can be.Told fearlessly and poetically, Rabbit Heart weaves together themes of power, gender, and justice into a manifesto of grief and reclamation: our stories do not need to be simple to be true, and there is power in the telling.In this laugh-out-loud and heartfelt memoir, writer, speaker, and podcaster Molly Stillman shares her unforgettable story of losing her mother,…
squandering an unexpected quarter-of-a-million-dollar inheritance in less than two years, attempting to launch a career in comedy but ending up on a farm instead, and finding faith, hope, and joy in the middle of it all. Molly Stillman has lived the type of life that when shared, people stop in their tracks and ask, "Wait, what happened?" Molly's mother, Lynda Van Devanter Buckley served as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War and wrote the bestselling memoir, Home Before Morning. When Molly was seventeen, Lynda passed away after an eight-year battle with an autoimmune disorder due to her exposure to Agent Orange. Four years later, Molly turned twenty-one and unexpectedly inherited a quarter of a million dollars from her mother's estranged family's estate. Through "retail therapy" and a long series of grossly irresponsible financial decisions, Molly found herself broke with over $36,000 in credit card debt less than two years later. Shame, guilt, and embarrassment set in.With aspirations of a career in comedy, Molly used humor to mask the pain and brokenness she felt, believing that if she looked joyful and put together on the outside, it would eventually be true on the inside. Instead, she spent the next few years depressed, lonely, and feeling alienated from those closest to her. But an unlikely call with a compassionate credit counselor, meeting the spreadsheet-loving man who eventually became her husband, and a surprising visit to a church started her on a path that changed everything.If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry will bring readers into the tension of feeling both joy and grief and show them that every broken, messed up story has a purpose, and it's possible to gain everything if they're willing to surrender it all to Jesus.Till Death Do Us Part: American Ethnic Cemeteries as Borders Uncrossed
By Allan Amanik and Kami Fletcher. 2020
Contributions by Allan Amanik, Kelly B. Arehart, Sue Fawn Chung, Kami Fletcher, Rosina Hassoun, James S. Pula, Jeffrey E. Smith,…
and Martina Will de Chaparro Till Death Do Us Part: American Ethnic Cemeteries as Borders Uncrossed explores the tendency among most Americans to separate their dead along communal lines rooted in race, faith, ethnicity, or social standing and asks what a deeper exploration of that phenomenon can tell us about American history more broadly. Comparative in scope, and regionally diverse, chapters look to immigrants, communities of color, the colonized, the enslaved, rich and poor, and religious minorities as they buried kith and kin in locales spanning the Northeast to the Spanish American Southwest. Whether African Americans, Muslim or Christian Arabs, Indians, mestizos, Chinese, Jews, Poles, Catholics, Protestants, or various whites of European descent, one thing that united these Americans was a drive to keep their dead apart. At times, they did so for internal preference. At others, it was a function of external prejudice. Invisible and institutional borders built around and into ethnic cemeteries also tell a powerful story of the ways in which Americans have negotiated race, culture, class, national origin, and religious difference in the United States during its formative centuries.Obituaries in American Culture
By Janice Hume. 2000
“Within the short period of a year, she was a bride, a beloved wife and companion, a mother, a corpse,”…
reported The National Intelligencer on the death of Elizabeth Buchanan in 1838. Such obituaries fascinate us. Few of us realize that, when examined historically, they can reveal not only information about the departed but also much about American culture and about who and what we value. They also offer hints about the way Americans view death. This book also will fascinate, for it surveys more than 8,000 newspaper obituaries from 1818 to 1930 to show what they reveal about our culture. It shows how, in memorializing individual citizens, obituaries make a public expression of our values. Far from being staid or morbid, these death notices offer a lively look at a changing America. Indeed, obits are little windows through which to view America's cultural history. In the nineteenth century, they spoke of a person's character, in the twentieth of a person's work and wealth. In the days when women were valued mainly in their relationships with men, their obituaries were about the men in their lives. Then, as now, important friendships make a difference, for sometimes a death has been deemed newsworthy only because of whom the deceased knew. In 1838 when a fifty-year-old Virginian named William P. Custis died “after a long and wasting illness,” readers of The Daily National Intelligencer learned about his generous hospitality, his sterling business principles, and his kindness as a neighbor and husband. Custis's obituary not only recorded the fact of his death but also celebrated his virtues. The newspaper obituary has a commemorative role. It distills the essence of a citizen's life, and it reflects what society values and wants to remember about the deceased. Throughout our history, these published accounts have revealed changing values. They provide a link between public remembrances of individuals and the collective memory of a great American past. In obits of yesteryear, men were brave, gallant, vigilant, bold, honest, and dutiful. Women were patient, resigned, obedient, affectionate, amiable, pious, gentle, virtuous, tender, and useful. Mining newspapers of New York City, New Orleans, Baltimore, Chicago, and San Francisco, along with two early national papers, Niles' Weekly Register and The National Intelligencer, Janice Hume has produced a portrait of America, an entertaining history, and a revealing look at the things Americans have valued.Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats
By Frederick J. Spencer. 2002
When a jazz hero dies, rumors, speculation, gossip, and legend can muddle the real cause of death. In this book,…
Frederick J. Spencer, M.D., conducts an inquest on how jazz greats lived and died pursuing their art. Forensics, medical histories, death certificates, and biographies divulge the way many musical virtuosos really died. An essential reference source, Jazz and Death strives to correct misinformation and set the story straight. Reviewing the medical records of such jazz icons as Scott Joplin, James Reese Europe, Bennie Moten, Tommy Dorsey, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, and Ronnie Scott, the book spans decades, styles, and causes of death. Divided into disease categories, it covers such illnesses as ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), which killed Charlie Mingus, and tuberculosis, which caused the deaths of Chick Webb, Charlie Christian, Bubber Miley, Jimmy Blanton, and Fats Navarro. It notes the significance of dental disease in affecting a musician's embouchure and livelihood, as happened with Joe “King” Oliver. A discussion of Art Tatum's visual impairment leads to discoveries in the pathology of what blinded Lennie Tristano. Heavy drinking, even during Prohibition, was the norm in the clubs of New Orleans and Kansas City and in the ballrooms of Chicago and New York. Too often, the musical scene demanded that those who play jazz be “jazzed.” After World War II, as heroin addiction became the hallmark of revolution, talented bebop artists suffered long absences from the bandstand. Many did jail time, and others succumbed to the ravages of “horse.” With Jazz and Death, the causes behind the great jazz funerals may no longer be misconstrued. Its clinical and morbidly entertaining approach creates an invaluable compendium for jazz fans and scholars alike.Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850-1950
By Abby Burnett. 2014
Before there was a death care industry where professional funeral directors offered embalming and other services, residents of the Arkansas…
Ozarks—and, for that matter, people throughout the South—buried their own dead. Every part of the complicated, labor-intensive process was handled within the deceased's community. This process included preparation of the body for burial, making a wooden coffin, digging the grave, and overseeing the burial ceremony, as well as observing a wide variety of customs and superstitions. These traditions, especially in rural communities, remained the norm up through the end of World War II, after which a variety of factors, primarily the loss of manpower and the rise of the funeral industry, brought about the end of most customs. Gone to the Grave, a meticulous autopsy of this now vanished way of life and death, documents mourning and practical rituals through interviews, diaries and reminiscences, obituaries, and a wide variety of other sources. Abby Burnett covers attempts to stave off death; passings that, for various reasons, could not be mourned according to tradition; factors contributing to high maternal and infant mortality; and the ways in which loss was expressed though obituaries and epitaphs. A concluding chapter examines early undertaking practices and the many angles funeral industry professionals worked to convince the public of the need for their services.Fragile Grounds: Louisiana's Endangered Cemeteries (America's Third Coast Series)
By Jessica H. Schexnayder, Mary H. Manhein. 2017
Recipient of a 2018 Preserve Louisiana Award and a 2018 Coastal Stewardship AwardFragile Grounds compiles stories and photographs of endangered…
cemeteries throughout Louisiana's coastal zone and beyond. These burial places link the fragile land to the frailty of the state's threatened community structures. The book highlights the state's vibrant diversity by showing its unique burial customs and traditions, while it also identifies the urgent need for ongoing documentation of cultural elements at risk.Cemeteries associated with the culturally rich communities of Louisiana reflect the history and global settlement patterns of the state. Yet many are endangered due to recurring natural and man-made events. Nearly 80 percent of the nation's coastal land loss occurs in Louisiana. Coastal erosion, sinking land, flooding, storm surge, and sea-level rise have led to an inland migration that threatens to unravel the fabric of Louisiana and, by association, hastens the demise of its burial places.As people are forced inland, migrants abandon, neglect, or often overlook cemeteries as part of the cultural landscape. In terms of erosion, when the land goes, the cemetery goes with it. Cemeteries fall prey to inland and coastal flooding. As cities grow outward, urban sprawl takes over the landscape. Cemeteries lose out to forces such as expansion, eminent domain, and urban neglect. Not only do cemeteries give comfort for the living, but they also serve as a vital link to the past. Once lost, that past cannot be recovered.Death, Disability, and the Superhero: The Silver Age and Beyond
By José Alaniz. 2014
The Thing. Daredevil. Captain Marvel. The Human Fly. Drawing on DC and Marvel comics from the 1950s to the 1990s…
and marshaling insights from three burgeoning fields of inquiry in the humanities--disability studies, death and dying studies, and comics studies--José Alaniz seeks to redefine the contemporary understanding of the superhero. Beginning in the Silver Age, the genre increasingly challenged and complicated its hypermasculine, quasi-eugenicist biases through such disabled figures as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and the Doom Patrol.Alaniz traces how the superhero became increasingly vulnerable, ill, and mortal in this era. He then proceeds to a reinterpretation of characters and series--some familiar (Superman), some obscure (She-Thing). These genre changes reflected a wider awareness of related body issues in the postwar United States as represented by hospice, death with dignity, and disability rights movements. The persistent highlighting of the body's "imperfection" comes to forge a predominant aspect of the superheroic self. Such moves, originally part of the Silver Age strategy to stimulate sympathy, enhance psychological depth, and raise the dramatic stakes, developed further in such later series as The Human Fly, Strikeforce: Morituri, and the landmark graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel, all examined in this volume. Death and disability, presumed routinely absent or denied in the superhero genre, emerge to form a core theme and defining function of the Silver Age and beyond.ACT at the End: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with People at the End of Life
By Toni Lindsay. 2024
ACT at the End is based on the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and while it has a…
grounding in research, it is also a hands-on clinical guide for those working with people at a tricky and complex time of life. This treatment manual is arranged to support clinicians in stepping through common concerns and addressing the ways that people at this stage of life may require psychological support as well as strategies for supporting clinicians working in this space. The guide provides a formulated ACT approach to address each element of the Hexaflex, as well as work around self-compassion and using ACT approaches to support difficult decision making.This book provides examples that clinicians will be able to apply to their own practices and tools that they can use to troubleshoot clinical concerns. It’s a helpful companion to clinicians navigating challenging terrain—much in the way that someone might turn to a colleague for advice, it is open and accessible, while still recognizing the ways in which that the work is hard.A Handbook of Children's Grief: For Adults Supporting Children
By Atle Dyregrov, Martin Lytje. 2024
Bereavement is undeniably one of the most challenging experiences a child can face. It is crucial for individuals caring for…
such children to be well-informed about how to provide the best support. This comprehensive guide on children's grief is designed for teachers, educators, psychologists, and family members, and aims to equip them with essential knowledge about how to support the child and family through this experience.The authors delve into various aspects of grief reactions and processes in children, offering insights into bereavement in different settings, including home and school. The guide also explores therapy options, the impact on development and relationships, and the lasting effects that extend beyond childhood.Drawing from scientific research, clinical experience, and the voices of bereaved children through stories and quotes, this guide provides practical and concrete advice for those dedicated to supporting children's grief. It serves as an invaluable resource for understanding and aiding children in their journey through loss.After the Worst Day Ever: What Sick Kids Know About Sustaining Hope in Chronic Illness
By Duane R. Bidwell. 2024
For those who care for chronically ill children, a new understanding of hope that equips adults to better nurture pediatric…
hope among sick kids—articulated by the children themselvesAs anyone with a chronic illness knows, hope can sometimes be hard to come by. For parents and caregivers of children with serious illness, there can be a real struggle to move beyond one's own grief, fear, and suffering to see what hope means for these kids.Duane Bidwell, a scholar, minister, and former hospital chaplain who has struggled with serious illness himself, spent time with 48 chronically ill children in dialysis units and transplant clinics around the United States. Chronically ill kids, he found, don&’t adhere to popular or scholarly understandings of hope. They experience hope as a sense of well-being in the present, not a promise of future improvement, an ability to set goals, or the absence of illness and suffering. With this mindset, these kids suggest a new understanding of pediatric hope, saying hope becomes concrete when they (1) realize community, (2) claim power, (3) attend to Spirit, (4) choose trust, and (5) maintain identity.Offering textured portraits of children with end-stage kidney disease, After the Worst Day Ever illustrates in their words how sick children experience, maintain, and turn toward hope even when illness cannot be cured and severely limits quality of life. Their insights reveal how the adults in a sick child's world—parents, chaplains, medical professionals, teachers, and others—can nurture hope. They also shift our understanding of hope from an internal resource located &“inside&” an individual to a shared, communal experience that becomes a resource for individuals.Rich and moving, Bidwell&’s work helps us imagine anew what it means to sustain hope despite inescapable suffering and the limits of chronic illness.Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality
By Venki Ramakrishnan. 2024
'Spectacular. It changed my perspective on the whole living world but most of all myself.' - CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN'Combines science,…
politics, memoir and medicine with ease, grace and lucidity. An incredible journey.' SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE'Utterly fascinating. Clear, enthralling and packed with insights.' - BILL BRYSON'A thrilling ride through the science of ageing and death. A must-read.' - STEPHEN FRY_________Would you want to live forever?Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan transforms our understanding of why we age and die - and whether there's anything we can do about it.We are living through a revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in our understanding of why we age and die, and why some species live longer than others. Immortality, once a faint hope, has never been more within our grasp.Examining recent scientific breakthroughs, Ramakrishnan shows how cutting-edge efforts to extend lifespan by altering our natural biology raise profound questions. Although we might not like it, does death serve a necessary biological purpose? And how can we increase our chances of living long, healthy and fulfilled lives? As science advances, we have much to gain. But might we also have much to lose?I Promise It Won't Always Hurt Like This: 18 Assurances on Grief
By Clare Mackintosh. 2024
New York Times and international bestselling mystery author Clare Mackintosh makes her nonfiction debut with this deeply felt memoir of…
unfathomable loss, and infinite hope. "Grief has run through my life like thread through fabric; at times gossamer-thin and barely there, other times weaving thick, clumsy darns across the rips. In my grief I am a mother, a child, a sister, a wife, a woman, a friend. I am also a writer."When Clare Mackintosh lost her five-week-old son, she soon discovered there are no neat, labeled stages of grief like so many books insist. The shape of each loss is different; when a parent, relative, or friend passes, we grieve the person in all their beauty, their humanity, their imperfections. For Clare, there was no preparing for the anger and excruciating ache of knowing her child's life would remain unlived. This is the book she needed then. Inspired by a viral Twitter thread Clare wrote on the anniversary of her son's death, this deeply honest, compassionate memoir will bring solace and encouragement to anyone who finds themselves walking with grief, whether for a season or for several years. It is for those who need a little voice saying: I Promise It Won't Always Hurt Like This, for the people who love them, and those who understand that great loss can be a window through which we see how powerful, and unending, love can be.Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality
By Venki Ramakrishnan. 2024
A major exploration of the science of why and how we age and die - from a Nobel Prize-winning biologist…
and former president of the Royal Society.'Ramakrishnan's writing is so honest, lucid and engaging' - Siddhartha MukherjeeThe knowledge of death is so terrifying that we live most of our lives in denial of it. Our fear of death has underpinned our religions, inspired our cultures, and also driven our science. Today we are living through a revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in our understanding of why we age and die, and why some species live longer than others. Immortality, once a faint hope, has never been more within our grasp.Here, Nobel Prize-winning biologist Venki Ramakrishnan offers a definitive look at why we die - and whether we can do anything about it. Covering the recent breakthroughs in scientific research, he examines the cutting edge of efforts to extend lifespan by altering our natural biology and how this raises profound questions. Although we might not like it, might death might serve a necessary biological purpose? And what are the social and ethical costs of attempting to live forever? As science advances, we have much to gain. But might we also have much to lose?Why We Die is a narrative of uncommon insight and beauty from one of our leading public intellectuals.(P) 2024 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedWhy We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality
By Venki Ramakrishnan. 2024
"Utterly fascinating." —Bill Bryson"An incredible journey." —Siddhartha MukherjeeA groundbreaking exploration of the science of aging and mortality—from Nobel Prize-winning molecular…
biologist Venki RamakrishnanThe knowledge of death is so terrifying that we live most of our lives in denial of it. One of the most difficult moments of childhood must be when each of us first realizes that not only we but all our loved ones will die—and there is nothing we can do about it.Or at least, there hasn’t been. Today, we are living through a revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in understanding why we age—and why some species live longer than others. Could we eventually cheat disease and death and live for a very long time, possibly many times our current lifespan?Venki Ramakrishnan, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and former president of the Royal Society, takes us on a riveting journey to the frontiers of biology, asking whether we must be mortal. Covering the recent breakthroughs in scientific research, he examines the cutting edge of efforts to extend lifespan by altering our physiology. But might death serve a necessary biological purpose? What are the social and ethical costs of attempting to live forever?Why We Die is a narrative of uncommon insight and beauty from one of our leading public intellectuals.Life After Loss: Conquering Grief and Finding Hope
By Raymond A. Moody, Dianne Arcangel. 2007
A unique approach to understanding and overcoming grief.Bestselling author Raymond Moody and his colleague Dianne Arcangel show how the grieving…
process can transform our fear and grief into spiritual and emotional growth.I'll See You Again: A Memoir
By Jackie Hance, Janice Kaplan. 2013
In this powerful, intimate memoir, a mother of three shares her story of unbearable loss, darkest despair, and her cautious…
return to hope and love.After the accident on a New York State parkway that took the lives of her three beloved daughters—Emma, age eight; Alyson, age seven; and Katie, age five—suburban wife and mom Jackie Hance’s reality was the stuff of every parent’s worst nightmare. And nothing—including her lifelong faith—could ever explain the heartbreaking facts: the girls were killed in a minivan driven by their aunt, Jackie’s sister-in-law, Diane Schuler, while returning from a camping weekend on a sunny July morning. I’ll See You Again heartrendingly portrays a family tragedy few of us can imagine surviving, and how the power of forgiveness and the support of a tight—knit community gradually provided the courage and strength for Jackie and her husband to find a place of redemption, rebirth, and hope.Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner
By J. William Worden. 2018
Encompassing new content on the treatment of grief, loss, and bereavement, the updated and revised fifth edition of this gold-standard…
grief therapy book continues to deliver the most up-to-date research and practical information for upper-level students and practitioners alike. It’s a must have for all mental health professionals. The fifth edition includes updates to the author’s Tasks and Mediators of Mourning, new case studies, and valuable Instructor Resources. The text highlights recent initiatives to extend care to the bereaved and fosters the knowledge and skills required for effective intervention and even preventative treatment. Also addressed in this bereavement counseling book is the impact of social media and online resources for “cyber mourning,” changes in the DSM-5 as they influence bereavement work, alternate models of mourning, and new findings on the varied qualities of grief. The fifth edition continues to present a well-organized, concise format that is easy to read and provides critical information for master’s level health courses in grief counseling and grief therapy as well as for new and seasoned practitioners alike.Conscious Grieving: A Transformative Approach to Healing from Loss
By Claire Bidwell Smith. 2024
From one of the leading grief therapists, this compassionate and accessible guide to grieving offers a new framework for understanding…
and navigating loss.An intimate guide to grieving that offers hope and healing within loss from one of the nation&’s top grief therapists. Conscious Grieving is a book for anyone seeking guidance and support after loss. Renowned grief therapist Claire Bidwell Smith combines her deeply personal experience of loss with her long career spent working with thousands of people to introduce a new approach to grief, one that promotes hope and even transformation. What does it mean to grieve consciously? Most of the time, when we lose someone we love, it feels like grief is just happening to us. We feel out of control, and overwhelmed. Claire reminds us that while loss is something that inevitably happens to all of us, how we choose to grieve is up to us. When we can consciously engage with our grief, rather than avoiding it, we can access profound pathways to healing. Presented in a series of thoughtful, brief vignettes that don&’t overwhelm the reader, Conscious Grieving offers a new framework for each stage of grief: Entering, Engaging, Surrendering, and Transforming. Entering – staying present and taking care of ourselves as we navigate the shock and upheaval of a new loss. Engaging – navigating that first year after a loss by staying in tune with our needs as more complicated feelings of depression, guilt or anger surface. Surrendering – facing the changes to our identity and who we are becoming in the face of loss. Transforming – through ritual, honor, hope, and grace, and learning to carry our grief with intention so that we can continue to grow, heal, and thrive. Grief asks a lot from us. But the ability to grieve is a birthright. We grieve throughout our lifetimes. We grieve the deaths of loved ones yes, but also moves, divorce, illness, injustice, time lost, changes in the world and healing from these losses requires that we evaluate everything we ever considered meaningful. Healing means making our lives worth the pain we endure when we lose someone we love. And transforming through grief is an opportunity afforded to all.