Los Angeles, CA, November 9, 2009 – David Kessler and the legendary Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007) co-authored a remarkable book, On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss (Simon & Schuster), to help everyone through difficult times – and they do it with compassion, understanding and hope. Indeed, this beautiful work was death and dying expert Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ final legacy to the world, completed just one month before her own death. Inspired by Kessler’s own loss of his mother at age twelve during the holidays, the book deals with the way we e xperience the process of grief and weaves together theory, inspiration, and practical advice, with a special section covering losses during the holidays.
Holidays are part of the journey through some of the roughest terrain we have to navigate after a loss, and the ways we handle them are as individual as we are. There is no right or wrong way. It is difficult to celebrate times that normally mean ‘togetherness’ when we are not together and Holidays magnify this loss. The book gives many helpful suggestions how to incorporate the memory of the person no longer with us into the Holiday celebrations – even though the Holidays may never be the same they can be enjoyed again someday. In fact, if you are going through the motions and feeling nothing, it’s even OK to cancel them and take a year off – they will be back next year! In On Grief & Grieving, Kessler examines the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance that are the tools to help frame and identify what we might be feeling, realizing that not everyone goes through each and every step the same way since there is no prescribed order or timeline in grief. Please visit the author’s websites at: www.grief.com and www.holidaygrief.com
David Kessler is one of the most well-known experts and lecturers on grief and loss today, and his first book, The Needs of the Dying, received praise from Mother Teresa. He has appeared on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, PBS, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and Oprah’s Radio Network, and has worked with celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, Jamie Lee Curtis and Marianne Williamson when their loved ones faced life-challenging illnesses. He also worked with Anthony Perkins, Michael Landon and industrialist Armand Hammer when they faced their own deaths.
