A Conversation with Jonathan Santlofer, author of The Widower’s Notebook – Penguin Random House

Penguin: From The Year of Magical Thinking to A Widow’s Story and beyond, the world of grief literature often seems to lack a man’s perspective on loss. Why do you think that is? Jonathan Santlofer: The most obvious answer—and the one I tried to deal with myself in my years of grief and then in this book—is that men are neither trained nor expected to express their feelings. “Take it like a man” and “toughen up” are things I heard from the time I was very young. Perhaps this is less true nowadays (and I hope so), but it was absolutely true when I was growing up. In writing this book I was constantly questioning myself – Do men actually write these kinds of books? I didn’t read C.S. Lewis’s book until long after I’d written mine. It might have made it easier for me if I had. There are things he writes about that … Read more

Food City

As most of you know, my wife, Joy, died suddenly and unexpectedly two years ago. At the time, she was close to finishing her 5-year book project, Food City: 400 Centuries of Food Making in New York. This epic, history-changing book is scheduled for release by WW Norton in June 2015 but there are still many things to be completed. Doria took it upon herself to create a Food City Kickstarter Campaign that is both pragmatic and a loving tribute to her mother. I know how hard she worked on this and how difficult it was emotionally. I hope you don’t mind that I offered your contact info to Doria. Of course you should not feel in any way compelled to donate, but we would appreciate it if you pass along the link so the word can spread. This is an important book, Joy’s life’s work, and we are making sure it gets the attention it deserves.