Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's

by B. Smith, Dan Gasby, Michael Shnayerson, Rudolph E. Tanzi Ph.D. (Foreword by)

Overview

“A powerful portrait of Alzheimer’s…marked by strong emotions and often bleak honesty.”
—The Washington Post

“The vulnerability, courage, and honesty in Before I Forget are heart-opening. Fear can be paralyzing…yet B. and Dan beautifully demonstrate that there is a different way to approach this stealthy invader. Alzheimer’s needs to come out of the shadows, and this book is an important step.” 
—Maria Shriver

Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient. She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks.
 
B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way.
 
At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780553447156
Publisher:	Harmony/Rodale
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	662,279
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

B. Smith was a true American success story. Born in rural western Pennsylvania and faced with what would be, for most, insurmountable obstacles, Barbara “B.” Smith was one of the first supermodels. She wrote three highly acclaimed cookbooks, and over a 28-year period founded three successful restaurants, while also launching a nationally syndicated television show and a magazine. She was the first African-American woman with home products distributed exclusively at Bed Bath & Beyond. She was also a recipient of numerous national and local awards for helping those in need. B. Smith passed away in 2020, at age 70, from early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Dan Gasby has been a television media sales executive and a television producer for both network & syndicated programs. He helped publish and launch B.'s eponymous magazine and helped cofound her lifestyle retail brand.

Michael Shnayerson is a long-time contributing editor to Vanity Fair. He is also the author or co-author of six books, among them entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte's My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance. He has also published an unauthorized biography of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, The Contender.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Part 1 Little Signs of Difference 1

Part 2 The New Normal 35

Part 3 Putting Aside Pride and Privacy 67

Part 4 Queen of the Three Rivers 95

Part 5 Brave, Then and Now 127

Part 6 Time to Speak Out 149

Part 7 Walking in Her Shoes 177

Part 8 Stalking an Unstoppable Disease 205

Part 9 Alzheimer's and African Americans 243

Part 10 The Road Ahead 265

Resources 299

Acknowledgments 307

Index 311

Editorial Reviews

"...An enduring love story."
—Publishers Weekly starred review

"A brave and important story, told with candor, love and useful information. Before I Forget offers a real glimpse into what Alzheimer’s actually looks like in a loved one, and sheds a hopeful light on why this disease needs much more research, funding, and attention."
—Kimberly Williams-Paisley, actor and author of Where the Light Gets In

"What an amazing couple and what an amazing book! It is medically and scientifically accurate, and yet places this devastating disease in the context of a beautiful and intimate relationship. We must do better as a community, in our families and within our government in responding to this disease. African-Americans are especially called upon to get more involved in the research as this disease disproportionately impacts us."
—Dr. David Satcher, Former Surgeon General of the United States
 
“B. and her husband Dan made it to the top by breaking through societal barriers. Now they are facing down her heart- breaking diagnosis and fighting to live each day with love and dignity. Read Before I Forget to understand how Alzheimer’s tests both patient and family. Admire their courage, honesty, and how they use their celebrity to advocate for research and prevention.”
—Meryl Comer, president of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer's Initiative and author of Slow Dancing With A Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimer's

"Before I Forget, Dan Gasby's valentine to his wife, B. Smith, courageously lifts the veil that shields those with Alzheimer's. It is moving testimony to the power of love and the true meaning of what "in sickness and health" really means. Before I Forget is, quite simply, unforgettable."
—George and Trish Vradenburg, Co-Founders, USAgainstAlzheimer's

From the Publisher

★ 11/23/2015
With the assistance of Vanity Fair contributing editor Shnayerson, spouses Smith (a restaurateur and model) and Gasby (a marketing exec) explain the slow, grinding stages of Alzheimer’s disease as it is affecting Smith. The couple recently went public about Smith’s degenerative disease after a revealing Today Show segment and a frantic missing-person search that turned the East Coast upside down. Over the course of Gasby’s loving narrative as the chief caregiver and Smith’s compelling inserts as the courageous patient, they take the reader through the early stages of forgetfulness, the horror of the diagnosis, and the mood swings and inappropriate behavior of the later symptoms. The doctors try to keep the couple abreast of drug trials and new research in the pipeline, but acknowledge it’s an uphill fight. However, underneath the grim march of the disease, there is an enduring love story of care and adoration, anchored by their campaign for new funding for research into possible cures. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2015
Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at age 64, Smith found herself in a role she never pictured. The author gained popularity in the 1970s as a supermodel, and in the 1980s pursued a career as a celebrity chef and restaurateur. Currently well known as African American lifestyle doyenne, B., alongside husband Dan Gasby, chronicles her family's journey though her Alzheimer's diagnosis and beyond. Part memoir and part narrative self-help guide, the book comprises ten chapters, moving mostly between Sag Harbor, NY, and New York City from fall 2010 to early 2015. Each concludes with a "Lessons Learned" section offering a summary of takeaway points. Helpful background on the condition combines with heartfelt recounts of the family's story, resulting in a tale of love, hope, and optimism. The personal writing makes this memoir approachable, practical, and relatable. VERDICT Recommended for patients and families struggling with memory disorders.—Carolann Curry, Mercer Univ. Lib., Macon, GA

Library Journal