We are pleased to offer this list of books recommended by our staff.

Religion, Belief, and Spirituality in Late Life edited by L. Eugene Thomas and Susan A. Eisenhandler, Springer Publishing Company, 1999.

As our elderly population increases and more people live longer, research on elder spirituality is a valuable resource for work with this group. The late L. Eugene Thomas and Susan A. Eisenhandler have presented research along several major themes, from the original research of Erik Erikson, to ways that people mature spiritually, to cross cultural research and gender spirituality, as well as a paradigm for late-life growth and development.

Work in this area is strongly influenced by Erik Erikson. Andrew Achenbaum and Stephen Modell compare Joan and Erik Erikson to the biblical characters Sarah and Abraham. Joan Erikson, at the age of ninety-one, sought to extend Erik.s theoretical understanding of human development in the later years.

Melvin Miller and Susan Eisenhandler report on ways that individuals grow spiritually, both from an individual perspective as well as participation in a structured learning environment.

Of particular interest was cross-cultural research of elderly Jewish immigrants from the former USSR, as well as Turkish Muslim elders. L. Eugene Thomas had such a lively group of Jewish immigrants that everyone wanted to talk at the same time.

Patricia Burke and Susan McFadden looked at male and female spirituality. Burke.s research looked at issues of spiritual maturity of females in the later years. Susan McFadden.s work is based on a journal written by John Casteel as he reflected on his life in a nursing home.

The final section of the book addresses the question, .Is there a distinctive spirituality in Late Life?. Chapter 9 looks at the positive and negative responses of individuals to an organized faith system. Some people are hindered by previous negative experiences with the Church. Others are able to maintain an attitude of wonder and awe. The authors sought to understand how individuals are open to the mystery of life while at the same time remaining connected to a faith system. Finally in Chapter 10, Lars Tornstam provides quantitative research to expand on his theory of gerotranscendance, which is a shift in metaperspective from a materialistic and pragmatic view of the world to a more cosmic and transcendent one.

The collection of research from various perspectives gives the reader a broad understanding of the way the elderly incorporate religion and spirituality into the aging process. This book is a valuable resource to understand that process.

Journey through Heartsongs written and illustrated by !Mattie J. T. Stepane, VSP Books, New York, 2001.

Occasionally one comes across a book that is a pure gem. This is one of those books. Journey through Heartsongs is a book of poetry. What is unique about this book is that the author is eleven. He also is suffering from muscular dystrophy.

As I read this book, I really couldn.t believe what I was reading. The insight of his experience and ability to express images of all kinds.wonder, anger, fear, joy, playfulness, and sadness.simply astound me.

The book is divided into five sections each dealing with a part of Mattie.s journey: Beginning the Journey; Considering the Journey, Coping with the Journey; Celebrating the Journey; and Growing Beyond the Journey.

Many of the poems in the .Beginning. section deal with God and God.s presence. In the .Considering. section, Mattie often reveals little things about himself, while in the .Coping. section he deals with the death of his siblings and a friend. In the .Celebrating. section the world around him is a reoccurring theme and in the last section, Mattie centers on the topics of hope, being thankful, and about his afterlife.

After reading the book, I.ve decided that my favorite poem is .Beware of the Ever-Wolf.. This poem captures the essence of many of Mattie.s experiences: questioning when things will happen to him, and which things will happen first and why things happen. Mattie concludes this poem by stating that we should ..always watch out, and beware, because Iam a werewolf for any moon.. I pray that he does continue to write for many, many more moons.

Talking About Death Won.t Kill You by Virginia Morris, Workman Publishing Co., New York, 2001.

Let me begin by saying the title of this book is what really caught my eye. I have a great passion for grievers in our world. In my own corner of the world, I spend every Tuesday night helping grievers find relief.

I found this book to be plain, down-to-earth . the kind of book that just makes sense. Virginia began this book out of her experience and pondering as it related to her pregnancy with her first child and the death of her father 3 months before her child was born. She shared that she had gotten so much advice on preparing for her child.s coming and nothing to prepare her for her dad.s leaving. How true that is for all of us!

The heroic procedures of the medical community can do much to prolong .life. as medical personnel may define it. And in the process, the dehumanizing machines end up cutting us off from each other and from the spiritual rite of death itself.

Virginia Morris argues that it doesn.t have to be this way if we stop, take a deep breath, and start talking about death instead of denying it will happen. She has taken a wealth of personal stories and woven them throughout bits of practical advice. The reader would have a difficult time not having a .good death. for themselves or a loved one after reading these pages. In a good death, patient and family are fully informed and their decisions are respected. Pain relief, both spiritual and emotional, is not considered an alternative to invasive medical treatment but rather an essential part of care. Whenever feasible, death occurs where the patient is most comfortable and has the most control.

The only point at which I would beg to differ is when Morris mentions the stages of grief. From my own experience and in my work with grievers, grief cannot be tidied up into stages. I do believe Elisabeth Kubler Ross. stages of death and dying work for those with terminal illness. I do not believe they work with grievers. (For that, I would refer readers to The Grief Recovery Handbook by John James and Russell Friedman.) However, that alone would not keep me from adding this book to my library because that is a small difference of opinion in the midst of tremendous wealth. I applaud Virginia Morris for allowing her personal adventure to give us something we can use!