Grief Biography

When Lu Spinney's 29-year-old son, Miles, flies up on his snowboard, "he knows he is not in control as he is taken by force up the ramp," writes his mother, "skewing sideways as his board clips the edge and then he is hurtling, spinning up, up into the free blue sky ahead.... " He lands hard on the ice and falls into a coma. Thus begins the erratic loss - Miles first in a coma and then trapped in a fluctuating state of minimal consciousness - that unravels over the next five years.

Before May 31, 2008, September Vaudrey's life was beautiful. But on that day, with one phone call from the ER, her whole world - everything she knew and believed - was shaken to the core. Katie, her 19-year-old artist daughter, had been in a car accident and would not survive. How does a family live in the wake of devastating tragedy? When darkness colors every moment, is it possible to find light? Can God still be good, even after goodbye?

William Peter Blatty, the best-selling author and Oscar Award-winning screenwriter of The Exorcist, lived a charmed life among the elite stars of Hollywood. His son, Peter, born over a decade after The Exorcist, grew from an apple-cheeked boy into an "imposing young man with a quick, warm smile". But when Peter died very suddenly from a rare disorder, Blatty's world turned upside down.

In this lyrical and deeply personal memoir, author and joy-seeker Angie Lea traces the seasons of her life through love, loss, and the long road to healing. Rooted and guided by nature’s rhythms, Angie’s story unfolds through heartbreak and hope, transformation and trust, reminding us that grief and growth can coexist—and that beauty often returns after the darkest winters.

Truth, Huxley will learn, requires the loss of everything that keeps her from it. Starting over on a small farm on the plains of Kansas, she will find a vast wilderness to cross, one where beauty will triumph over defeat and love overcome death, where the colors of promise and eternity are unveiled, illuminating further each small step on the way to the ecstasy of understanding. It will be ridiculously hard at times. But there, she will be reminded of who she is and where she is going. We are not such as dreams are made of. But sometimes dreams can lead us home.

Two years after Marilyn loses her fiancé to cancer, she becomes a Christian and marries Henry, joining him in a worldwide ministry that leaves little time for family or personal reflection. When her old grief resurfaces, she’s shocked by the tsunami that rips through their lives. Intensive counselling fails to bring healing, and when Henry writes a public letter that decimates their churches and spins them out of fellowship—and lifelong employment—she faces an emotional and spiritual reckoning that challenges her to the core.

Melissa, an English dominatrix, has just lost her mother. But she has also promised to fly to Massachusetts to play the cane-happy headmistress of a girls’ boarding school in a film funded by a wealthy benefactor—and to give a keynote address on birching bare bottoms at a spanking conference in Texas four weeks later.

Stunned and in disbelief, author Shelby Wagner, watched as the young nurses walked away after informing her that “Mr. Wagner didn’t make it!” A once-confident woman is shattered with grief, unable to accept that her husband is "gone". As visions of a lonely and uncertain future danced before her, she asked God why he had not taken her too. But God had plans for her. Wagner's story is provocative and captivating. Her insights and coping strategies are invaluable.

"I'm sorry, it's cancer." Four words with the power to upend your entire existence and thrust you into an emotional whirlwind. As these words unravel, they unleash trauma, chaos, and threats to every facet of life—from health and body image to relationships, job, career, and future dreams. Thoughts swirl: What did I do so wrong to deserve this? How am I going to survive? Is my body going to be mutilated?

The Magic of Life explores how he overcame tragedy, grief, and depression throughout his life. Even though he lost his mother, he and his brother were raised by his father and an incredible Jamaican woman who stepped in to fill the mother’s role. Michael shares his unique life about loss and how he finally addressed his grief with a blend of humor and inspiration that will have you crying and laughing throughout the book.

A biography; a life story that is more than that. Her life has been an inspiration to intellectuals, doubters, wayfarers; an Oak of Weeping to sit under; a mix of strength and weakness. She describes her life as a remarkable and difficult one, yet one in which she dares to see its beauty. It has warmth, a verbal straightness, humor, self-irony, and authenticity. It is a fiery and hopeful book from a living heart. It feels like a long and very personal letter.

The Price of Admission takes us on a journey with Liz from loss into renewed life. Raw, unflinchingly honest, and surprisingly funny, Liz writes from a universally understood place of struggle, whether that is the deep darkness of grief or the hazy, yet joyful, dimness of demanding everyday lives spent caring for ourselves and our families.

A lifetime of finding punchlines in his heartache comes to a shuddering stop when comedian and writer Shawn Hitchins loses two great loves, five months apart, to sudden death. In this deeply poignant memoir that combines sober self-portrait with tender elegy, Hitchins explores the messiness of being alive: the longing and desire, scorching-earth anger, raw grief - and the pathway of healing he discovers when he lets his heart remain open.

In the mid 1980s, Canada's worst public health disaster was unfolding. Catastrophic mismanagement of the country's blood supply allowed contaminated blood to be knowingly distributed, infecting close to two thousand Canadians with HIV. Among them was Melanie Brooks's surgeon father who, after receiving a blood transfusion during open-heart surgery in 1985, learned he was HIV positive. At a time when HIV/AIDS was misunderstood and public perception was shaped by fear, prejudice, and homophobia, victims of the disease faced ostracism and persecution. Wanting to protect his family from this stigma, Melanie's father decided his illness would be a secret they'd all keep.

The powerful testimonies of 11 widows of the Bible are brought to narrative life in lyrical, visceral prose that brings listeners deep inside the women's grief, strength, and faith. Full of both haunting and hope, Not Alone connects Biblical widows' voices in a chorus of commiseration that reminds us what it means to love - and what it means to live with God.

After storming the scene with Stereo(TYPE), the PEN America Award–winning poet makes his highly anticipated return—with a virtuosic sophomore collection that plunges the reader into the tenebrous realm between dreams and reality and firmly establishes him as an essential voice in American...

In March 2017, Niamh Fitzpatrick’s life fell apart overnight. Her beloved sister, Dara, was killed in a helicopter crash. Soon afterwards, Niamh’s marriage ended, and she feared she would lose her home. Life as she knew it was gone forever, and the grief was overwhelming. A psychologist for many years, Niamh’s job is to help clients through the toughest times in their lives.

Experience the raw journey of Yolanda Williams as she confronts the unbearable grief of losing both her brothers within a short period. In "Sorry for Your Loss But What Happened," Williams courageously shares her firsthand account of navigating through profound loss and grappling with existential questions.

Life for Autumn Toelle-Jackson started out on a happy and ordinary timeline. When she entered her thirties, however, tragedy made up for lost time. Over the span of a few short years, she endured several miscarriages and the loss of her husband, a dear cousin, and child. But one small cross-section of a life doesn't do justice to the amount of love, resilience, growth, and blessings a person experiences after such titanic losses.

A catalyst for change can take many forms. For author Erin Burrell, that life-altering moment began with a jarring knock at the door. A solemn detective delivered the news that a loved one had died. The grief and heart-splitting loss sent her groping for answers. In her search, she was drawn toward an unexpected path - towards the metaphysical. After reading several books about psychic mediums, Erin wondered if she too might be able to connect with her deceased loved one.