From a shocking and revealing start, Judy Foreman's memoir is riveting. We can see a woman of great success and envy her hold on life. But in this painfully honest account, we find sexual abuse, parental alcoholism, illness, love, loss, and resiliency. In the end, it can inspire others to overcome the challenges that life may throw at us.
-Matt Storin, retired editor of The Boston Globe
Foreman, an undaunted truth-seeker, describes herself as 'a regular old human being . . . trying to understand what we are all doing here.' If this is true, the rest of us ordinary humans can take heart. She is the perfect example of what William Faulkner described when stressing his belief that humanity 'will not merely endure: (we) will prevail.' She has given us a testament to the resilience of a spirit ever reaching toward love-and finding it.
-Mara Wagner, psychoanalyst and professor at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
Foreman's lovely memoir about growing up with abusive and emotionally absent parents is transformative and shiningly hopeful. The book delivers funny and wise vignettes sometimes set in the vibrant newsroom of the Boston Globe, where she worked as a journalist for decades. Foreman exudes a courageous determination to discover how to give and receive life-changing love despite a childhood where love was nowhere to be found. From where I sit as a therapist who works with trauma survivors, this is nothing short of a miracle. A wonderful, wonderful read.
-Eileen Lynch, psychologist specializing in complex trauma
Wonderful! I laughed, feared, and cried throughout this talented woman's courageous sharing of the truths, loving, traumas, and impermanence of our lives. As a syndicated medical journalist, musician, and woman who dares to look inward, Judy Foreman has embraced the opposite of her childhood silence. The reader is healed and informed.
-John Livingstone, MD, former director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and consultant in Clinician Selfcare, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital
For decades at the Globe, Judy Foreman used her research and writing skills to all our benefit, educating her readers about crucial health issues and the politics of information and access. Now she has turned those skills to crafting a powerful memoir of her own life. As Foreman traces how she emerged from under the shadow of early sexual abuse and toxic parenting, readers will learn from her anew. Foreman's capacity for compassion and deep friendships has clearly contributed to the power of her journalism and offers constructive guideposts for navigating our relationships with loved ones.
-Judy Norsigian and Wendy Sanford, coauthors of Our Bodies, Ourselves
Judy Foreman has always been one of the most intelligent writers I know. In this brave and deeply personal memoir, she takes us on a journey from early trauma to engaging insider accounts of her years at The Boston Globe. With thoughtful insight and a wry, poetic sense of humor, Judy shows us how friendship, swimming, therapy, and song have all helped her to emerge and flourish as her fully realized, loving self.
-Laura Kramer, MD, psychiatrist
This important survivorship story reminds us that men's sexual violence-and all male violence against women and girls-requires more men and male-identified peoples to step up and find ways to prevent and stop this abuse. Foreman's memoir will invite more men to do just that.
-Craig Norberg-Bohm, founder, former board member, and staff of the North American MenEngage Network
