For Immediate Release

Contact: Kristi Maxwell, Marketing Manager
Phone: 410.337.9585
Fax: 410.337.8539
Email: kmaxwell@healthpropress.com

NEW BOOK GUIDES INDIVIDUALS FACING DEATH THROUGH THE END-OF-LIFE EXPERIENCE

Baltimore, MD (July 2009) — Millions of people throughout the U.S. are experiencing or anticipating a death in their family every day. Yet dying and the end of life are challenging topics that receive little media attention. With less than 1% of deaths occurring in hospice facilities[1] – locations that have specially trained staff in end-of-life care – more resources need to be dedicated to helping the dying individual and his or her loved ones cope with the journey into death.

In response to this need, author Linda Watson has created Facing Death: A Companion in Words and Images, a book specifically designed to tend to a dying individual's emotional, spiritual, and psychological needs. This unique resource embraces all spiritual traditions while encouraging meaningful conversation, reminiscence, and reflection. It enables readers to work through the different emotions they experience and to communicate more effectively about their needs.

At a time when those closest to the dying individual often find themselves at a loss for words, this book can also help inspire meaningful conversations and interactions, easing the difficult transition between life and death. The text is short enough not to tax the waning strength and attention of physically frail individuals, yet the messages and photographs on each page are powerful and thought provoking. Extra blank pages in the book allow for personalization with the reader's favorite quotes, photographs, and other mementos, making it a valuable keepsake after a loved one's death. "Feel free to personalize this book for yourself with bookmarks, notations, and other additions . . . Share it with family and friends. Read it together with loved ones and allow the moment to open you all to a deeper sharing of the experience you face . . . However you use the book, make it your own . . . " comments Watson. Altogether, this book is an invaluable resource for visiting family members, counselors, social workers, nurses, physicians, chaplains, and volunteers at hospices, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Linda Watson is a former pastoral and supportive care professional in Winnipeg, Manitoba, who has worked extensively with the dying and bereaved. Her counseling and theological training, plus her own life experiences, have combined to give her the knowledge and sensitivity to create this invaluable resource and to be a positive presence at the sides of those facing death.

The book's photographer, Maggie Sale, is a Toronto-based photographer specializing in landscape and nature photography. Her images have appeared in exhibitions and been published in magazines and books in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. She is a member of the Canadian Association for Photographic Art.

###