Francis Weller emphasizes grief's need to be witnessed. As a therapist for 40 years, he believes grief connects all stories. He advocates for embracing all emotions and living fully, with reverence.

In This Party’s Dead, Erica Buist explores death festivals around the world, blending humor, cultural insight, and personal grief. Her irreverent tone challenges how we fear death and invites celebration instead.

Erica Buist, after a traumatic encounter with death, became fascinated with death anxiety. She advocates for normalizing conversations about death to alleviate fear, drawing on personal experiences and research.

William Peters, founder of the Shared Crossings Project, wrote At Heaven’s Door to normalize extraordinary end-of-life experiences. He advocates for a conscious, connected, and loving approach to death.

Sacred Death revisits a tale from Emile Zola’s The Sinful Priest, where Albine, heartbroken by a priest’s abandonment, orchestrates her tragic death by suffocating herself in flowers, an artistic homage to her sorrow.

Stephanie Lucianovic wrote The End of Something Wonderful to help children process pet loss, aiming to make conversations about death less scary and more accessible. She values kindness and self-awareness.

Christopher Borrelli explores what the last works of artists reveal about life and death, highlighting figures like Van Gogh, LeGuin, and Day-Lewis, and the poignant clarity that emerges before death.

Lux Narayan, a data scientist, analyzed 2,000 New York Times obituaries to identify common threads using word clouds. His insights reveal patterns in life and death, offering reflections on how to live fully.

In Last Rites, Todd Harra explores the evolution of American funeral practices, tracing them from home-based care in early colonies to modern, elaborate rituals. The book offers a historical look at death care.

Rebecca Louise Law's 2016 exhibition "The Beauty of Decay" explored life, death, and decay through hanging flowers. Her art captures nature’s cycle, preserving and reusing flowers as they change over time.

Love Notes to Grievers by Angela Morris offers solace to those dealing with loss, reflecting on grief's depth and beauty. Morris shares how writing about death helps her stay present and connected to others.

Frank Ostaseski, cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, teaches how embracing death helps us live fully. His "Five Invitations" guide us to be present, compassionate, and open to life's impermanence.

Dying Prepared features Francesca Arnoldy, a community doula and death literacy educator, sharing insights on navigating mortality, preparing for death, and the importance of compassion and human connection.

Donna Bassin uses art to address difficult topics like aging and end-of-life conversations, aiming to challenge societal views on consumerism and death through photography, film, and storytelling from diverse experts.

Katy Butler, author of The Art of Dying Well, found her path to end-of-life advocacy after her father's stroke, highlighting the failures of the medical system. Her exit plan is to be surrounded by stars, and she wishes for joy and acceptance in life and death.

In The Cancer Journals, Audre Lorde recounts her breast cancer journey with candidness and insight, highlighting the intersection of race, gender, and health. She critiques societal norms and the patriarchy's treatment of women’s bodies, offering powerful reflections on fear, survival, and death.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin follows four siblings who, after learning the dates of their deaths from a fortune teller, live haunted by their prophecies. The novel explores love, loss, and the impact of knowing one's fate.

Brian Rea, author of Death Wins A Goldfish, reflects on the importance of being present in life's fleeting moments. His exit plan includes having his ashes spread over a wave, with a fitting obituary in The New York Times.

Susan Ducharme Hoben, author of Dying Well…Our Journey of Love and Loss, emphasizes the importance of celebrating life and planning for a well-prepared death. Her book offers a personal account of navigating mortality with gratitude, love, and deliberate decisions, aiming to inspire others to live fully and plan thoughtfully for their end-of-life journey.