Joan Didion has been writing books for more than 40 years. Her newest and most unforgettable book is "The Year of Magical Thinking."

My father performed the most powerful act of Christian charity I have ever personally witnessed: forgiving the young man who killed my brother.

In the last few years, I have become increasingly involved with death. This involvement has come from three sources: my clinical practice as a physician specializing in geriatrics, my work as a Jesuit priest at an academic medical center and my own attempts as an educator to improve the care of the