What Readers Are Saying

Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully

A Journey with Cancer and Beyond

"Diane’s story is a living example of an elegant spiritual life."

C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., President Holos University Graduate Seminary
Founding President, American Holistic Medical Association
Author of Life Beyond 100: Secrets of the Fountain of Youth and Soul Medicine

"Sharing the wisdom from a terminally ill nurse educator’s own journals, this book enables Diane Manahan to convey her final, greatest lesson: how to live fully until—and beyond—death. Her inspiring story elicits goose bumps, laughter, and tears. It is a priceless template for patients, caregivers and loved ones who seek a holistic, sacred approach to a serious illness or to end-of-life care."

Mary Treacy O’Keefe, M.A.
Co-founder and Executive Director of Well Within
Author of Thin Places: Where Faith is Affirmed and Hope Dwells

"A great life is never extinguished, because compassion, love, and wisdom are eternal. That is why we believe Diane Manahan's life and light will continue to shine through the ages."

Larry Dossey, M.D.
Executive Editor of Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing
Author of The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things

Barbara Dossey, Ph.D., R.N.
Director of Holistic Nursing Consultants
Author of Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice

“It was a privilege and a joy to read Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully. Thank you for sharing yours and Diane’s beautiful, touching and enlightening labor of love with me, and with the world. I hear Diane singing. I see all of us crying and laughing and holding one another.”

James S. Gordon, M.D.
Founder and Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Washington D.C.
Author of Manifesto for a New Medicine

"All of us face the death of a loved one and eventually our own death. Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully is a wonderful lesson for us all in facing that time with honor, dignity and beauty. Diane Manahan teaches us how to live and how to make death an event to be shared by those we love."

Lee Lipsenthal, M.D.
ABHM President, The American Board of Holistic Medicine
Founder, Finding Balance in a Medical Life

"Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully is a tribute to an enchanting and gifted woman as well as a vehicle for educating others about how to die "with grace." Diane's writings and intimate moments give mystical exuberance to one of life's dreaded curve balls."

Jane Coleman, R.N., M.S.
Associate Professor of Nursing, Gustavus Aldolphus College
Co-founder, Healing Hands Wellness Group

“I have never seen anything like this book! Diane’s perceptions are wonderfully original and illuminating. Her desire to live in harmony with cancer is so different from usual attitudes. Her story is unique and deserves a wide audience.”

Margaret Cruikshank, Ph.D.
University of Maine Author of Fierce with Reality: An Anthology of Literature on Aging

“I wish I'd known what is in your book when my best friend was dying of acute leukemia.”

Deborah Woodworth, writer, St. Paul, MN
Author of the Sister Rose Shaker mystery series

"'If You are Going Through Treatment’ is very good and all of the guidebook is powerful. It should be in every oncology clinic and chemo waiting room in the world. Many will love Becky’s account of the portal, and I personally love your daring to include that controversial part of your experience. The cremation chapter is one of the best things in this book, never before talked about as part of the journey.”

Patricia Anderson, R.N., M.S., C.N.S., Outpatient Psychiatry
New Ulm Medical Center, New Ulm, MN

“The book is wonderful—thought-provoking, heart-rending, educational, spiritual, and uplifting."

Nancy Rolfsrud, Psychologist, Mankato, MN

"I will recommend this book to clients who are facing their own serious illness or death, and to the many clients who want to be truly present for friends and family members as they prepare to die. The depth of Diane's sharing not only provides a much-needed role model, but also removes the fear of the unknown and the awkwardness of not knowing what to say or how to be helpful. This book is gripping and informative, well-written and easy to read.”

Ruth Baetz, MSW, Psychotherapist, Therapy for Women, Seattle
Author of Wild Communion: Experiencing Peace in Nature

"I have been deeply touched by this book. You have done an incredible (and virtually flawless) job of conveying the strength and beauty of Diane, her family and friends, and the dignity of her death."

Michele B. Bassett, Ph.D., St. Paul, MN

"Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully not only is a tribute to a fabulous woman. It also holds her journey with illness and beyond as something we could all model. The description of what transpired is moving, and the resources listed later can help others replicate what she organized. The accounts of Diane's presence appearing after her death feel so natural, they will be validating to those who have experienced such things. They also hold out hope for those who might not have known about that possibility in their own loved ones' passing. The openness of the people who walked with Diane on this path, the humor she brought to it, her magnificent spirit and strength of character—all are there."

Penny George, PsyD
Co-founder, Institute for Health and Healing, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Co-founder and past president, Bravewell Collaborative for Integrative Medicine