Tag Archives: Books and Literature

What is the Funeral Consumers Alliance? An Interview with Joshua Slocum

The Funeral Consumers Alliance talks about your rights...

Joshua Slocum is the Executive Director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a nonprofit dedicated to education and advocacy surrounding funeral consumer rights. Coming out next month, his groundbreaking (sorry) book Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death digs deep … Continue reading

Posted in Professional Advice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment


 “Dying to Know, straight talk about death and dying” by Toni Bahti

After all these years of research I was "Dying to Know" and a book by that name offers "straight talk about death and dying"

Dear Tani, I just can’t write a review. I need to write you a personal letter. I need to thank you for crafting the most important book I have ever read on this topic of dying. Bless your sweet heart … Continue reading

Posted in Lending Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Knocking on Heaven’s Door” by Katy Butler

A cautionary tale of a loss that teaches us how to take control of our own deaths

What happens after a debilitating stroke or a sudden heart attack snatches away the vitality of an elderly parent, spouse, or friend? How can we make the transition from child to caregiver or from spouse to nurse? What questions should … Continue reading

Posted in Lending Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Holding Silvan, A Brief Life” by Monica Wesolowska

It’s so intensely real I cried and sobbed through many of it’s pages

Few books offer a journey so intimate and overwhelming that we witness the author’s experience as though we were there. Intensely gripping, Holding Silvan, a Brief Life made me feel every second, every heartbeat from Monica Wesolowska’s true story—the infant loss of … Continue reading

Posted in Lending Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner

How the Bundren Family’s Journey to Bury Their Dying Matriarch Speaks to Life as Much as Death

Faulkner was a “Southern” writer, in the vein of Flannery O’Connor, but like O’Connor, his works tend to speak to larger themes. His third novel, As I Lay Dying, concerns a relatively simple set of events: the death of the … Continue reading

Posted in Lending Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel

A fictional character takes a fantastical journey to deal with loss

Everyone confronts grief differently. We all, consciously or unconsciously, create ways to cope and continue living as we deal with loss. Usually this involves some mixture of employing defense mechanisms, taking solace in escape and eliciting help and comfort from … Continue reading

Posted in The Next Chapter | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment