The Book of Barbara: Love and Grief: A Psychotherapist's Journey

My greatly-loved wife Barbara died in February 2014 after a siege of ovarian cancer. She was a unique soul, and I wanted to present her life fully: to describe her many unusual qualities because it is something she deserves, as many who knew and loved her would agree. There is also a larger message here: what the writer John Updike called, “Giving the mundane its beautiful due.”

One might ask, “Why write—or read—a book about this woman?” Barbara accomplished a few important things—founded a ...