About the Author

Claire B. Willis is a clinical social worker, an ordained lay Buddhist chaplain and a yoga teacher. In her private practice, she has spent over two decades working with oncology patients and with end-of-life issues. A co-founder of Facing Cancer Together: A Community of Hope, Claire is also an adjunct faculty member at the Andover Newton Theological School and a former group facilitator and instructor at The Wellness Community. She earned an M.A. from Episcopal Divinity School and a MSW at BU. Marnie Crawford Samuelson is a documentary photographer and a radio and multimedia producer. Her photographs are featured in The Wild Braid, a collaboration with poets Stanley Kunitz and Genine Lentine. She directs and photographs short films. Her website is www.bostonpicturegroup.com.

Reviews

Claire Willis has written a psychologically wise and spiritually evocative guide for patients coming to the end of their lives . . . she lays out a path for people to find peace, connection, and meaning in this difficult period of life. -- -- Susan Block, M.D., Chair, Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Dana Farber; Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care

"Claire Willis has written a psychologically wise and spiritually evocative guide for patients coming to the end of their lives . . . she lays out a path for people to find peace, connection, and meaning in this difficult period of life." -- -- Susan Block, M.D., Chair, Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Dana Farber; Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care

Lasting Words is a gift to all people facing the end of life, their loved ones and those that care for them. Whether dying, or accompanying those who are dying, this book is a simple, practical guide to a very profound journey. I strongly recommend this for patients, families, and professional caregivers. -- -- Christina Puchalski, M.D. M.S., Director and professor, George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health; Professor of Medicine and Health Sciences at George Washington University; Author of Time for Listening and Caring and Making Healthcare W

Lasting Words offers us a delicately crafted guide, providing strong, secure scaffolding for the journey of living while dying, dying while living. -- -- Reverend Julia Dunbar, M.Div, Director of Pastoral Care and Education, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

What a treasure this simple and profound book is to those nearing the end of their life as well as to pastors, rabbis, chaplains and others who accompany them in the process! -- -- Brita Gil Austern, Philip Guiles Professor of Psychology and Pastoral Theology, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton, MA