Gail Caldwell: "Let's Take the Long Way Home"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-09-02/gail-caldwell-lets-take-long-way-home
A memoir about treasuring and losing a friend. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gail Caldwell tells how the extraordinary bond she shared with her best friend has endured, even after death.
Guests
Gail Caldwell
the author of "A Strong West Wind" and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism in 2001.
Comments
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I hope this comment can be read by Gail Caldwell.
I just recently lived through a similar situation. My best friend and I shared a home for 18 years. We weren't a gay couple but we loved each other very much. She passed away August 22nd, 2009, in our home with me alone. She was 81 and I was 66. Her name is Jean and I feel close to her still. (Still in the present tense.)
This has been the hardest time of my life. However, I feel blessed that I had 20 years with her. A companion in life is so important. My time with Jean is the best of my life and I feel that she is with me. Sometimes I dream about her and I hope this is her way of connecting with me.
I would like to tell Gail about our relationship. I wish that other lonely people would have someone in their life to rely on.
finding this book was like picking up a thread I lost after reading "drinking: a love story" many years ago. Thank you so much Gail Caldwell for the reaffirmation of friendship, of the extraordinary relationships people are capable of having with others, and with their dogs ( Pack of Two is so very powerful)
caroline Knapp changed my life and my work when "drinking" was published. "Lets take the long way home" is the path I needed to continue that journey.
Bless you, and Clementine and Caroline and Lucille.
I listened to your interview today, as I was in my car traveling across town, and was awestruck by the familiarity of our experience. Your words were able to capture all that I felt this past spring with my best friend. She died of ovarian cancer within 7 weeks of diagnosis. I consider it such an honor to have been with her throughout that entire journey. Although we both felt blindsided by this disease, facing it together and the finality of this earthly experience helped us savor every single moment. I have ordered your book, and feel that being in the car at this particular moment, on this particular day, was nothing short of divine intervention. Thank you for your gift. (My friend's dog's name was Tula ...)
I listened to your interview today, as I was in my car traveling across town, and was awestruck by the familiarity of our experience. Your words were able to capture all that I felt this past spring with my best friend. She died of ovarian cancer within 7 weeks of diagnosis. I consider it such an honor to have been with her throughout that entire journey. Although we both felt blindsided by this disease, facing it together and the finality of this earthly experience helped us savor every single moment. I have ordered your book, and feel that being in the car at this particular moment, on this particular day, was nothing short of divine intervention. Thank you for your gift. (My friend's dog's name was Tula ...)
What a wonderful book! I heard part of the broadcast, then immediately read the book in 2 sittings. Then I listened to the interview on the web from start to finish. It is a beautiful story beautifully written. Thank you, Gail Caldwell, so much!
What a wonderful book! I heard part of the broadcast, then immediately read the book in 2 sittings. Then I listened to the interview on the web from start to finish. It is a beautiful story beautifully written. Thank you, Gail Caldwell, so much!
I did truly love the book but Gail’s PR efforts on behalf of the book seem somewhat exploitive to me. How can she talk so openly about such private things in light of the fact that Caroline was such a private person?
Having read all of Caroline Knapp's ebooks, I'm grateful to Ms. Caldwell for writing so beautifully about the friendship that she and Caroline shared--and for talking about her new book with Ms. Rehm. "Let's Take the Long Way Home" is almost like poetry to read: graceful, precise, and insightful. And when I was finished, I wanted to read it again.
I believe Caroline Knapp was interviewed on the Diane Rehm show in 1998. It would be wonderful if that interview could be added to the website archives.
Having read all of Caroline Knapp's ebooks, I'm grateful to Ms. Caldwell for writing so beautifully about the friendship that she and Caroline shared--and for talking about her new book with Ms. Rehm. "Let's Take the Long Way Home" is almost like poetry to read: graceful, precise, and insightful. And when I was finished, I wanted to read it again. I believe Caroline Knapp was interviewed on the Diane Rehm show in 1998. It would be wonderful if that interview could be added to the website archives.
Reading different dog blogs, I stumbled across A Pack of Two. I loved reading about Caroline and Gail's friendship and their pack of four with Clementine and Lucille.
I think of Caroline & Lucille very often when I'm together with my own dog because the book really touched me.