Donna, a Photo Memoir of Love and Loss

Donna, A Photo Memoir of Love and Loss is a brave and beautiful photo-narrative of a marriage filled with heart, humor, and tears—without despair. This memoir of hope pieces together a life-time of touching and magical memories, focusing on the journey from terminal diagnosis to death and a husband’s life after death. ‘Donna’ tells the story of how and why it did last 30 years and what came before they met—including a box of never-before seen photos unaided by her voice or history.

Grief does not just happen. Grief is a symptom, an outcome of a loss. ‘Donna’ was written to plumb the depths of grief, love, Donna's life, and them. Mark needed to write ‘Donna’ to facilitate his grief journey with a reckless examination of loss. He thought this was a grief story.

‘Donna’, the book, is something more. Like Donna, the book is complex with fragments of their story weaved into a message of hope any reader can access. Mark could not be without Donna and their story. The light that pours from the wound called grief is hope.

This book will make you rethink your perspectives on death and grief. It is a story of hope.

Some readers’ comments:

“A healing exercise for the writer and the reader.“

"It is beautiful. Funny, complicated, awful, lyrical, and beautiful.”

“A complex story of love and death simply told in words and photos.”

“Raw and touching.”

“A reader’s guide through tragedy, with welcome injections of humor.”

““Now I began to learn that I could be alone and be me and not self-loathe. I accepted that I was not surrendering me to be with her—I was becoming me. Ripping away some of my ego, I found underneath, the person she loved.” I loved this so much.

“Mark, Wanted to tell you again how moved I was by the book and the bravery it took for you to bare your soul like that.”

“Mark- I am floored and awed and in tears and overwhelmed. This is beautiful. So visceral. Even if I didn’t know you or Donna, I can’t imagine being less impacted. Just wow.”