DAN HAYS
Statesman Journal
July 21, 2002
... Also of interest
Excerpted from an article which covered three other books... See
the entire article at:
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=45469
Some books are, quite simply, necessities.
"Urgent Whispers: Care of the Dying" is one
of them.
American culture tends to attempt to deny death. We hold it at bay by making it part
of mass entertainment, by attempting to trivialize it as a metaphor in thought and
speech. But death not only is the ultimate fate of all of us, it also is something
most of us have to deal with in others.
And who is truly prepared to care for the dying, to sit with and comfort those about
to discover the ultimate secret?
Sapienza has spent his life dealing with his own serious health problems, losing loved
ones and friends along the way. Highly educated and obviously intensely compassionate,
Sapienza devoted himself to the writing and publication of this little book. A little
book that offers wisdom, comfort, information and true hope.
In plain language, "Urgent Whispers" helps the caregiver discover personal truths.
Then it imparts facts about the dying and how to speak with them, how to help them,
how to be with them, how to care for them in every sense of the word.
It may be read or used in a more active way. The left-hand page of most of the book is
a series of questions to be answered by the caregiver, with space for the answers to
be written in. That is why there is a spiral-bound version — it lies flat on the desk
and allows users to write in their answers.
The "advice from the dying" on the right-hand pages is straight from the heart. As in:
Please commit to remember me. Share me. Become my essence for someone
who did not know me.
and
Be comfortable while you’re with me. Don’t make yourself uncomfortable
doing what you cannot do.
Some of us need this book now. Some of us need to admit that someday, perhaps very
soon, we will need it. But all of us need it.
It may be hard to find. Be persistent. Jackson’s Books and Rosebud & Fish carry it in
Salem.
Dan Hays regularly reviews books for the Statesman Journal. Write Hays in care
of The Statesman Journal, P.O. Box 13009, Salem OR 97309-3009.
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URGENT WHISPERS:
Care of the Dying
Author: Jerral Sapienza
Publisher: LLX Press; Eugene, OR; 152 pages
Format: Mass Market Paperback: ISBN 0-9717107-0-8
Coil Bound Spiral: ISBN 0-9717107-5-9
Cost: $14.95
Available: At Rosebud & Fish, Jackson’s Books, Borders,
others
Author Appearance: Author Jerral Sapienza will appear at Salem Public
Library
on Saturday September 7th, 585 Liberty St. SE 503.588-6315.
Free. He will speak with patrons and sign copies of his books. Phone
(541) 343-1202 for more information.
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