Dead People is a book of eulogies, written for an eclectic assortment of famous and interesting people who died in recent years. The essays were written by Stefany Anne Golberg and 2013 Whiting Award winner Morgan Meis. The book covers twenty-eight dead people in all, including intellectuals like Susan Sontag, Christopher Hitchens and Eric Hobsbawn; musicians like Sun Ra, MCA (Beastie Boys) and Kurt Cobain; writers like David Foster Wallace, John Updike and Tom Clancy; artists like Thomas Kinkade and Robert Rauschenberg; and controversial political figures like Osama bin Laden and Mikhail Kalashnikov.
First published in 1996. This new book gives voice to an emerging consensus among bereavement scholars that our understanding of the grief process needs to be expanded. The dominant 20th century model holds that the function of grief and mourning is to cut bonds with the deceased, thereby freeing the survivor to reinvest in new relationships in the present. Pathological grief has been defined in terms of holding on to the deceased. Close examination reveals that this model is based more on the cultural values of modernity than on any substantial data of what people actually do. Presenting data from several populations, 22 authors - among the most respected in their fields - demonstrate that the health resolution of grief enables one to maintain a continuing bond with the deceased. Despite cultural disapproval and lack of validation by professionals, survivors find places for the dead in their on-going lives and even in their communities. Such bonds are not denial: the deceased can provide resources for enriched functioning in the present. Chapters examine widows and widowers, bereaved children, parents and siblings, and a population previously excluded from bereavement research: adoptees and their birth parents. Bereavement in Japanese culture is also discussed, as are meanings and implications of this new model of grief. Opening new areas of research and scholarly dialogue, this work provides the basis for significant developments in clinical practice in the field.
This book is designed for those who wish to develop their natural gifts or to understand more about the afterlife and see the signs that their loved ones are around them. Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Lisa Williams, and I have been working as a psychic medium for over twenty years. I never planned to work as a medium. I mean, think about it: in the '80s, having a career as a medium was never heard of. If I had gone to my teachers and said, "I want to speak to dead people for a career," I would have been carted off to the nearest mental institute. In fact, there were times that my mother would joke about the men in white coats coming to get me. I thought she was serious, and I grew up thinking that I was a little weird and hiding my ability. I was lucky to have a friend who thought my weirdness was cool. She was always asking questions about it, so I started to feel more comfortable; but as friends do, we drifted apart, and I had a new circle of friends, so I went back into the closet. I still had a growing intuition, but I curbed it and didn't say anything. I just found that I "knew" things, and I couldn't really explain it. I was actually quite shy growing up, and I found that I conformed with society about what I believed I should be like. It was easy. I fit the mold, and I didn't say anything...many people would call that being a sheep and following the crowd. Does this sound familiar to your story? It probably does. Well let me tell you: you are normal. Just because you have this gift doesn't mean that you have to hide it. For years I hid from it. I even hid it from my own parents for a while. For most of my life, my father has been a huge skeptic, and I remember the time when I had been working as a psychic medium for a while and he asked me when I was going to get a "proper job." He was an atheist and couldn't wrap his head around the concept that our soul continues to live on when our body dies. When I finally decided to come out as a medium, it was accepted and most people had a fascination about it. It was "cool" to have this gift. I grew up in the United Kingdom and so we never showed emotions, never went to therapy, and we never said we loved each other. It was a very different world to what we live in now. Going to a psychic or a medium was better than going to a therapist in the United Kingdom. When you went to the therapist you were admitting that you had a problem, it was a sign of weakness. Now it's considered a gift to be aware of your challenges, and it's actually character building. I finally surrendered to my gift after my friend helped me see that I wasn't crazy and that I actually could help others. The rest is history. What I would have benefited from, though, in those early years was some structure, discipline, and understanding. Even though my grandmother worked as a medium she died before I started, and so I didn't have anyone really to talk too. The only thing that she said to me was: "Always trust your gut instincts. It will never let you down." That is something I live by, and I will suggest that you do, too. Through my work, I have been guided by Spirit, which has shown me the way forward to work with my gift. I have built my gift on discipline and respect, which is something that I will enforce within you. I have developed the skill of delivering a message, as well as enhancing and fine-tuning my gift. These are things that I will help you with. Throughout this book you will come to understand the history of Mediumship, how to develop your gift, and how to see signs from your loved ones. You will be given daily exercises to enhance your gift and to help you connect to your own loved ones and those of other people.
An honest, irreverent, laugh-out-loud guide to coping with death and dying from Emmy-nominated writer and New York Times bestselling co-author of Sh*tty Mom Laurie Kilmartin. Death is not for the faint of heart, and sometimes the best way to cope is through humor. No one knows this better than comedian Laurie Kilmartin. She made headlines by live-tweeting her father’s time in hospice and her grieving process after he passed, and channeled her experience into a comedy special, 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad. Dead People Suck is her hilarious guide to surviving (sometimes) death, dying, and grief without losing your mind. If you are old and about to die, sick and about to die, or with a loved one who is about to pass away or who has passed away, there’s something for you. With chapters like “Are You An Old Man With Daughters? Please Shred Your Porn,” “If Cancer was an STD, It Would Be Cured By Now,” and “Unsubscribing Your Dead Parent from Tea Party Emails,” Laurie Kilmartin guides you through some of life’s most complicated moments with equal parts heart and sarcasm.
Modern technology has given us powerful new tools for an age-old dream: seeing and speaking with the dead. Using things you probably already own - such as a camcorder, computer, or tape recorder - you can contact departed loved ones or other spirits, record their images and voices, and establish two-way communications between the worlds. Speak with the Dead also details the more traditional methods of seance, trance, and scrying. You don't have to be a "techie" or an occultist to use any of these techniques. This book will guide you to one of the most awe-inspiring experiences you'll ever have - making contact with deceased loved ones and other souls. Speak with the Dead is the first book in the modern marketplace to focus on practical, usable techniques for communicating with spirits. This book shows you seven methods for spirit contact: -catching Electronic Voice Phenomena on tape -using radio noise to provide spirits with a voice -capturing ghostly images on videotape -letting spirits use your computer or telephone -scrying, establishing telepathic contact with the dead, and holding a seance Speak with them. They're waiting.
Throughout history, people have sought ways to contact the dead and spirits. Such experiences challenge beliefs and often set people on a path of deeper exploration, looking for validation—and ways to have controlled, direct contact. Do spirit communication devices really work? What are the prospects of someday being able to pick up a cell phone or sit in front of a webcam and talk to the Other Side? While proof of contact is still elusive, there is an abundance of tantalizing evidence and experience to inspire people. For the past century, inventors have been inspired by the spirits themselves to create telephone, video, radio, and computers to attempt real-time, two-way communication with the dead and other entities. Talking to the Dead explores the colorful history and personalities behind spirit communications, weaving together spirituality, metaphysics, science, and technology. It examines the idea that new technology can connect to the ancient and universal wisdom of the "music of the spheres"; that contact with the spirit realms can be made through the vibrations of sound. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
A mesmerizing and thrilling novel—perfect for fans of Tana French and Stieg Larsson—that introduces a modern, unforgettable rookie cop whose past is as fascinating and as deadly as the crimes she investigates. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Boston Globe • The Seattle Times SHE KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE. . . . At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy—and long dead—steel tycoon. What is a heroin-addicted hooker doing with the credit card of a well-known and powerful man who died months ago? This is the question that the most junior member of the investigative team, Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, is assigned to answer. But D.C. Griffiths is no ordinary cop. She’s earned a reputation at police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, for being odd, for not picking up on social cues, for being a little overintense. And there’s that gap in her past, the two-year hiatus that everyone assumes was a breakdown. But Fiona is a crack investigator, quick and intuitive. She is immediately drawn to the crime scene, and to the tragic face of the six-year-old girl, who she is certain has something to tell her . . . something that will break the case wide open. Ignoring orders and protocol, Fiona begins to explore far beyond the rich man’s credit card and into the secrets of her seaside city. And when she uncovers another dead prostitute, Fiona knows that she’s only begun to scratch the surface of a dark world of crime and murder. But the deeper she digs, the more danger she risks—not just from criminals and killers but from her own past . . . and the abyss that threatens to pull her back at any time. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Harry Bingham's Love Story, with Murders. Praise for Talking to the Dead “Gritty, compelling . . . a procedural unlike any other you are likely to read this year.”—USA Today “With Detective Constable Fiona ‘Fi’ Griffiths, Harry Bingham . . . finds a sweet spot in crime fiction . . . think Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander . . . Denise Mina’s ‘Paddy’ Meehan [or] Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. . . . The writing is terrific.”—The Boston Globe “The mystery-thriller genre is already so staffed with masterminds that it’s hard to make room for another. But along comes a book like Talking to the Dead, and suddenly an unadvertised opening is filled. . . . [This] has the feel of something fresh and compelling.”—New York Daily News “A stunner with precision plotting, an unusual setting, and a deeply complex protagonist . . . We have the welcome promise of more books to come about Griffiths.”—The Seattle Times “Recommended highly . . . [a] riveting procedural thriller.”—Library Journal (starred review)
Inspired by the website that the New York Times hailed as "redefining mourning," this book is a fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices, accompanied by gorgeous two-color illustrations and wry infographics. At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it’s clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map. Let’s face it: most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We’re awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit. Enter Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner, who can help us do better. Each having lost parents as young adults, they co-founded Modern Loss, responding to a need to change the dialogue around the messy experience of grief. Now, in this wise and often funny book, they offer the insights of the Modern Loss community to help us cry, laugh, grieve, identify, and—above all—empathize. Soffer and Birkner, along with forty guest contributors including Lucy Kalanithi, singer Amanda Palmer, and CNN’s Brian Stelter, reveal their own stories on a wide range of topics including triggers, sex, secrets, and inheritance. Accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and witty "how to" cartoons, each contribution provides a unique perspective on loss as well as a remarkable life-affirming message. Brutally honest and inspiring, Modern Loss invites us to talk intimately and humorously about grief, helping us confront the humanity (and mortality) we all share. Beginners welcome.
A young writer travels to Maine to tell the unusual story of America’s longest-running camp devoted to mysticism and the world beyond. They believed they would live forever. So begins Mira Ptacin’s haunting account of the women of Camp Etna—an otherworldly community in the woods of Maine that has, since 1876, played host to generations of Spiritualists and mediums dedicated to preserving the links between the mortal realm and the afterlife. Beginning her narrative in 1848 with two sisters who claimed they could speak to the dead, Ptacin reveals how Spiritualism first blossomed into a national practice during the Civil War, yet continues—even thrives—to this very day. Immersing herself in this community and its practices—from ghost hunting to releasing trapped spirits to water witching— Ptacin sheds new light on our ongoing struggle with faith, uncertainty, and mortality. Blending memoir, ethnography, and investigative reportage, The In-Betweens offers a vital portrait of Camp Etna and its enduring hold on a modern culture that remains as starved for a deeper sense of connection and otherworldliness as ever.
With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a 15-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his unstable upbringing, Sequoyah has spent years mostly keeping to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface - that is, until he meets 17-year-old Rosemary, another youth staying with the Troutts. Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American background and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah's feelings towards Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both.
