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Information for the
Press
Letters for Lizzie,
by Jim O'Donnell, is a story of love, friendship and a battle for life.
Walking with Arthur is a tribute to the
power of friendship. Both books are published by Northfield/Moody Publishing, Chicago.
Jim O'Donnell is available for interviews.
Contact the author by calling Janis Backing, Northfield/Moody Publishing, at
312-329-2108. E-mail Janis.
Or, write here at 820 N. LaSalle Blvd., Chicago, IL 60610.
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Some questions frequently asked
of Jim about Letters for
Lizzie:
- Why did you write this book?
(Because I was suffering from the predictable stresses of caring for a
seriously ill wife. My life was falling apart. Writing was a therapy for me
and a way to connect to others whose friendship and prayers I dearly sought.)
- Who could benefit from a book about people
suffering?
(People who are undergoing serious challenges in their lives, to what’s
important to them, to their core values.)
- How is this book different from other tales of family
struggle and suffering?
(While written by a person of faith, it is raw, immediate. It raises hard
questions that some people try to answer too easily.)
- As her caregiver, how has Lizzie’s illnesses changed you
or your faith in God?
(I went into Lizzie’s illnesses thinking such things could never happen to
“good” people like us. But such devastation does occur to any of us in an
imperfect world. Faith is a great help, but it does not give us a passport out
of life’s suffering.)
- How did you handle any doubts that God loved you and
Lizzie?
(At first, I didn’t have doubts. I just believed and trusted. But as the bad
grew worse, I ranted and raved at the very God I also prayed to. It took time
for grace and growth in my faith to mature.)
- You intimate that the Christian community was largely
helpful but, sometimes, somewhat unhelpful along your painful journey. Can
you explain what you mean by this?
(The dear Christian community that surrounded, loved us and cushioned our fall
for so long, in time, seemed to weary from their prayers not being answered.
They seemed to suffer a kind of compassion fatigue.)
- What was the hardest moment you have experienced over
the years of Lizzie’s suffering?
(Learning after we’d bravely battled terminal cancer for nine months that a
new battle against end-stage heart failure was just beginning.)
- What joys have you found along the way?
(The simple joy of having more time with a women I love, of going for a walk
around the block, of watching her see a son graduate from high school, another
get married, another take his first job.)
- Since the book actually began as a series of letters to
“friends back east,” what was their reaction to what you and Lizzie were going
through?
(Their reactions varied from “Good for you!” to “What a pair of nuts to have
moved to another planet and then ask us to pray for them.” Experiences such as
we have undergone rearrange friendships.)
- Lizzie’s severe health problems gave rise to your writing
Letters for Lizzie. How can this book be helpful to people facing
other types of suffering?
(Suffering whether from illness, job loss, betrayal, or changed finances tends
to leave one isolated, feeling abandoned, alone. Letters for Lizzie is a stab
at the heart of those feelings. It is meant to give hope to any who have to
travel though the valley of the shadow of death – and most of us will one day,
sooner or later.)
What others are saying about Letters for
Lizzie
National
Kidney Foundation (2005) (pdf)
Transplant Chronicles - Summer 2005 issue (pdf)
The Indianapolis Star
The Wall Street
Journal (pdf) - Part
of a series of cancer survivor stories reported by Amy Dockser Marcus for The
Wall Street Journal that won her 2005 Pulitzer Prize
Women's Day
(pdf)
Arizona Daily Star
(pdf), Tucson, AZ, 11-10-04. A battle for life bolstered by love in 'Letters
for Lizzie'
by Kathleen Conti.
Fort
Wayne Journal Gazette (pdf), 7-17-04.
Publishers Weekly
Christianity Today, July, 2004.
Fort Wayne News Sentinel,
May 7, 2004
CBA Marketplace,
(Reviewed by Ted Lewis, 4/04)
Relevant Magazine,
by Dusty Abshire, June 2004.
See press coverage of
Lizzie's health struggles
Some questions frequently asked of
Jim about Walking with Arthur:
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Why did you write this book?
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Why would anybody want to read a book
about someone’s friendship with a neighbor?
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What is the role of friendship in
developing maturity?
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How did your friend Arthur change you, or
influence the change that came to you?
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How did friendship with Arthur challenge
you differently than other friendships you may have had in your life before
meeting him?
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What would you hope a reader would do as a
result of reading Walking with Arthur?
-
What were the best and the worst moments
you knew as a friend of Arthur’s?
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Do you think many people today have a
friend like Arthur?
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If you don’t think that many have a
friendship as you had with Arthur, why do you think that?
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Most people say they would like more or
better friends, but you don’t think they’re being honest. What do you mean?
What others are saying about
Walking with Arthur
The New York Times (pdf), 4/10/2005
Touchstone Magazine Review (pdf),
May 2005
Fort Wayne Journal
Gazette (pdf), 2/26/05
Huntington Herald-Press (pdf),
2/16/05
See book cover images
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