Reading List

Many of the following books are available at:

  • Amazon.com

Books marked with a (*) are highly recommended by Dr. Balfour Mount.



 

Books for everyone

  • Tuesdays With Morrie, An Old Man, A Young Man and Life’s Greatest Lessons. Albom, Mitch, Doubleday, Toronto 1997

A successful Detroit sports writer reconnects with his former colleague, Morrie Schwartz, after accidentally discovering Morrie is dying from ALS. Fourteen interviews or “classes” with Morrie on Tuesdays followed and this book recounts these inspiring recollections, showing us how we might learn from Morrie’s good example.



 

  • The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Bauby, Jean-Dominique. Fourth Estate, London, 1998

  • Last Touch. Preparing for a Parent’s Death. Becker, Marilyn R. New Harbinger, Oakland, 1992

  • Some Become Flowers. Living with Dying at Home. Brown, Sharon. Harbour Publishing 1993

  • I Don’t Know What to Say: How to Help and Support Someone Who is Dying. Buckman, Dr. R. Key Porter Books, Toronto, 1998

  • The Four Things that Matter Most*. Byock, Ira, Simon & Shuster, 2004 ISBN 0-743-24909-7

  • Final Gifts. Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying. Callanan, Maggie; Kelly, Patricia. Bantam, New York, 1993

  • Taking Time: Support for People Living with Cancer and People Who Care About Them. Canadian Cancer Society, January, 1997

  • Coping with Serious Illness. Dallaire, Michelle; Montegeau, Suzanne. Regional Health and Social Services Board of Montreal-Centre, 1999

  • Ethics on Call. Taking Charge of Life-and Death Choices in Today’s Health System. Dubler, Nancy; Nimmons, David. Vintage, New York, 1993

  • Intimate Death. De Hennzel, Marie, Vintage Books, New York, 1998

How do we learn to die? Most of us spend our lives avoiding that question. This luminous book – a major bestseller in France written by Marie de Hennezel, a psychologist in a hospital for the terminally ill in Paris – answers it with a directness and eloquence that is nothing less than transforming.

  • A Good Enough Life: The Dying Speak. Gabori, Susan.

Twelve terminally ill people speak about life in the face of impending death.

  • Concerning Death: A Practical Guide for the Living. Grollman, Earl. A., ed., Beacon Press Boston 1974

Twenty essays treating such subjects as grief; how to talk to a dying person; should the person be told his fatal illness, children and death, etc.

  • It All Begins with Hope. Patients, Caregivers and the Bereaved Speak Out. Jevne, Ronna Fay. LuraMedia, San Diego, 1991

  • Mortally Wounded. Kearney, Michael A Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996

  • Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Mediation in Everyday Life *. Kabat-Zinn, Jon, Hyperion ISBN 1401-30778-7

  • Questions and Answers on Death and Dying

  • What Dying People Want: Pratical Wisdom for the end of Life *. Kuhl,David, M.D. Doubleday Canada

  • The Wheel of Life. A Memoir of Living and Dying. Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth. Touchstone: New York, 1997

  • To Live Until We Say Goodbye. Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth, Simon & Schuster, 1992

  • Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying. Longaker, Christine, Main Street Books, New York, 1997.

  • The Complete Bedside Companion. A No-Nonsense Guide to Caring for the Seriously Ill. McPharlane, Rodger. Fireside, New York, 1999

  • Timely Death. What We Can Expect and What We Need to Know. Mullens, Anne. Vintage, Toronto, 1997

  • Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal. Remen, Rachel Naomi, Riverhead Books

  • The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Rimpoche, Sogyal, Harper, New York, 1993

  • Tibetan Book of the Dead. A New Translation with Commentary. Hodge, Stephen; Boord, Martin. Godsfield Press, New York, 1999

  • Coping With Death in the Family. Schneidermann, Gerald, MD, NC Press Ltd., Toronto, 1994

  • Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life*. Simmons, Philip, Bantam Book 2003, ISBN 0-553-815

  • Dying for Care. Hospice Care or Euthanasia.. Van Bommell, Harry. NC Press: Toronto, 1992

  • Choices. For People Who Have a Terminal Illness, Their Families, and Their Caregivers. Van Bommel, Harry. 1989

  • Family Hospice Care. Pre-planning & Care Guide. Harry van Bommel. Saint Elizabeth Health Care Foundation, Scarborough, Ont.



 

Books for children

  • The Fall of Freddie the Leaf. Buscalglia, Leo. Slack Inc., Thorofare. New Jersey 1982

  • Explaining Death to Children. Grollman, Earl. Beacon Press, Boston 1967

  • The Grieving Child: A Parent’s Guide. Fitzgerald, Helen. A Fireside Book, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1992

  • When a Parent is Sick. Helping Parents Explain Serious Illness to Children. Hamilton, Joan. Pottersfield Press, East Lawrencetown, 2001

  • Learning to Say Goodbye: When a Child’s Parents’ Die. LeShan, Edna. Avon Books, New York, 1976

  • Armfuls of Time. Sourkes, Barbara M. University of Pittsburg Press, Pittsburg, Pa., 1995



 

Books on grief

  • Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul. Canfield, J.; Hansen, M.; Aubery and Mitchell

A collection of anecdotes from the popular series

  • Reawakening to Life. Renewal After a Husband’s Death. Berry, Mary Ellen & Berry, Carmen Renee.

  • Widower: When Men Are Left Alone. Campbell, Scott and Phyllis Silverman, PhD. Prentice Hall Press, New York, 1987

  • Motherless Daughters. Hope, Edelman. Addison-Wesley, 1994

  • Liberating Losses. When Death Brings Relief. Elison, ED.D, McGonigle, PhD. Perseus Publishing, 2002

  • The Mourning Handbook. Fitzgerald, Helen. Simon & Schuster, Toronto, 1994

    A comprehensive resource offering practical and compassionate advice on coping with all aspects of death and dying.

  • Living When A Loved One Has Died. Grollman, Earl A. Beacon Press, Boston, 3rd Ed., 1995

  • Magic and Loss. Lampman, Greg Raver. Hampton Roads, Norfold, 1994

    In letters to his young daughter, a father suddenly facing death rediscovers life.

  • A Grief Observed. Lewis, C.S., Bantam, 1983

  • When Men Grieve. Why Men Grieve Differently and How You Can Help. Levang, Elizabeth, PhD. Fairview Press, Minneapolis, 1998

  • Life After Loss. Conquering Grief and Finding Hope. Moody, Raymond Jr., MD & Arcangel, Diane. Harper, San Francisco, 2002

  • Healing and the Mind. Moyers, Bill. Doubleday, 1993

(Also recommended on video; available through many libraries.)

  • The Lively Shadow. Living With the Death of a Child. Murray, Donald M. Ballantine Books, New York, 2003

  • How to Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies. Rando, Theresa, Lexington, Mass., 1998

  • Death Without Denial, Grief Without Apology. A Guide for Facing Death and Loss. Roberts, Barbara K NewSage Press, Troutdale, Oregon, 2002



 

LIVRES EN FRANÇAIS



 

Quand la maladie grave survient. S’informer, comprendre, agir

Michèlle Dallaire; Suzanne Mongeau, Régie Régionale de Montré-Centre, 1998

Vivre Avec Celui Qui Va Mourir

Comment entourer et accompagner les dernier moments de la vie.

Yves De Gentil-Baichis, Centurion, Paris, 1999

Quand C’est une Question de Temps

Louison Berubé, Editions de Mortagne, Boucherville, 1982

La Mort Intime

Ceux qui vont mourir nous apprennent à vivre

Marie de Hennezel, Editions Robert Laffont SA, Paris, 1995

Quand un parent est malade. Comment expliquer une maladie grave aux enfants.

Joan Hamilton, Queen Elisabeth Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, 1999

Psychologie du Mourir et du Deuil

Jean-Luc Hétu, Editions du Meridien, Montréal, 1989

Vivre Son Mourir

Isabelle Delisle Lapierre, Editions de Montagne, Boucherville, 1982

Mourir Acompagne

Renée Sebag Lanoe, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris

Mourir en vie!

Jean Monbourquette; Denise Lussier-Russel. Novalis, Québec, 1999



 

Mourir: Réflextions sur le dernier chapitre de la vie

Sherwin B. Nuland, InterEditions, Paris 1994

La Perte d’un Etre Cher: Le travail du Deuil

Roger Regnier, Editions Quebecor, Montréal

Le Livre Tibetain de la Vie et de la Mort

Soygal Rinpoche, Editions de a Table Ronde, Paris 1992

Parents en Deuil

Harriet Sarnoff Schiff, Editions Robert Laffont, Paris, 1984

Requiem Pour La Vie

Leon Schwartzenberg, Le Pré aux Clercs, 1985



 

Pour enfants (livres en françcais)

L’horloge c’est Arrêtée

Jasmine Dubé, Editions Pierre Tisseyre, Collection Coccinelle, Montréal, 1990

Audieu Valentin

Marit Kaldhot & Wenche Oyen, L’Ecole des Loisirs, Paris, 1990

Comme Avant

Pili Mandelbaum, Pastel, Paris, 1990

Boule de Rêve

Lise Thouin, Montréal, 1993