In February DreamSeeker Books will release a memoir of a father’s life, legacy and death, entitled Long After I’m Gone, by Deborah Good of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship. A recent Cascadia Publishing House news release described the book as follows:
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In this unique and compelling memoir, the voice of a well-loved father intertwines with that of his twenty-four-year-old daughter, as he fights the ravages of a cancer that eventually takes his life.
Deborah Good was living in Philadelphia,when her life was hit suddenly with terrible news. Her father’s CT scans showed multiple spots of cancer. Deborah moved back in with her parents, Betty and Nelson Good, in Washington, D.C., and as Nelson approached death, spent hours sitting with him while he reflected back on the interlocking pieces of his unconventional job life. Nelson was neither a saint nor a celebrity and, by many measures, was a rather ordinary person, yet he lived with a humble integrity and a commitment to others that touched many.
From his spot on a padded green recliner, Nelson told the stories of seven projects, communities, and organizations he had cared about: a neighborhood community center, an experiential education program for college students (Washington Community Scholars Center of Eastern Mennonite University), an alternative day school for foster children, a retreat center, a house church, a historic building restoration and a unique house renovation.
After Deborah listened, took notes, and tape-recorded their conversations, she added her own reflections. The resulting memoir is a unique intertwining of a father’s history-telling with a daughter’s personal journey of remembrance, loss and grief.
Deborah Good is a writer, editor and, currently, a student and research assistant at Temple University, where she is pursuing a Master of Social Work. Her short essays and poetry have appeared in What Mennonites Are Thinking 2002 (Good Books), Crossroads, The Other Side and Dreamseeker Magazine.
For more information about the book click here.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.