The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson

“Selma Koch, a Manhattan store owner who earned a national reputation by helping women find the right bra size, mostly through a discerning glance and never with a tape measure, died Thursday at Mount Sinai Medical Center. She was 95 and a 34B.”

The Dead Beat tells the story behind the obituary page – the people who spend their lives writing about the dead, and the thoughtful and quirky life stories they tell. You will be humbled, edified, and warmed by Johnson’s account of the craft of obituary writing and how it preserves and shares with us lives well lived.

Mary Ellen

Out of the Canyon by Art & Allison Daily

Art Daily suffered a horrible tragedy when a boulder fell from Glenwood Canyon wall killing his wife and two sons, leaving him untouched. He faced a bleak future until a stranger, a woman struggling with her own grief, met him and reached out. This story is a riveting and powerful witness to the healing power of love and spirit over the worst, most unimaginable loss.

Mary Ellen