Featured in Media: Book gives new insight into 18 famous figures--"After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child." Perfect for Book Clubs

What did Mark Twain, George Burns, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Amelia Earhart's widower do after losing their spouse?

 "How they handled their loss, their guilt, and in some cases a plan for a future without their spouses, makes fascinating reading for anyone with interest in both the history and the human side of well-known figures." David S. Martin, Professor/Dean Emeritus, Gallaudet University.

Act II Publications, LLC, recently released the second book in its “After the Loss of a Spouse” series. The new book, “After the Loss of a Spouse: Henry VIII to Julia Child” by Lisa Saunders, examines the bittersweet human condition of love and loss though the lens of history. By learning how these famous (and infamous) people managed their lives after the loss of a spouse, we come to realize the potential that exists in all of us. Anyone who loves a romantic history lesson will be intrigued by this book.  Perfect for individuals and for groups. Includes questions for discussion.

The widow/ers featured in “After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child” include: 

•Mark Twain

•George Palmer Putnam (Amelia Earhart’s widower)

•C.S. Lewis

•Henry VIII

•Martha Washington

•Katharine Graham (of The Washington Post)

•Norman Rockwell

•George Burns

•Julia Child

•Mary Todd Lincoln

•Grandma Moses

•Milton Hershey (Hershey's Kisses)

•Coretta Scott King

•Captain von Trapp (of The Sound of Music)

•Hetty Green (World's Greatest Miser)

•William Gillette (aka Sherlock Holmes)

•Frances Wolfe Sisson (widow of Mystic, Connecticut, sea captain who perished in one of Texas’s worst maritime disasters)

•Abby Day Slocomb (the widow behind the Connecticut State flag design who sent the recently opened time capsule from Europe during WWI).

Review by David S. Martin, Professor/Dean Emeritus, Gallaudet University: "Lisa Saunders has written another fine piece of historically-based literature. Based on a unique and previously uncovered topic in history, this work encompasses a broad span of time and shows clearly the commonalities, as well as uniquenesses, of these stories about the famous. How they handled their loss, their guilt, and in some cases a plan for a future without their spouses, makes fascinating reading for anyone with interest in both the history and the human side of well-known figures."

On Wednesday, August 24, 2016, Lisa will be collaborating with Dr. Joanne Z. Moore, editor of Pathfinder: A Companion Guide to the Widow/er Journey, to present "After the Loss of a Spouse," the next installment of Bank Square Books' Self-Improvement Series on  in Mystic, Connecticut.  For more about the event, click here for a flyer, or visit Bank Square Book's webpage at: MYSTIC: Self-Improvement Series: After the Loss of a Spouse, Featuring Joanne Z. Moore and Lisa Saunders 

An article about the book appeared in The Day. Written by Amy J. Barry, it begins: "What does Mary Todd Lincoln have in common with George Burns? Not a whole lot, except that they were also both widowed and are featured in Mystic [Connecticut] resident Lisa Saunders’ new book, 'After the Loss of a Spouse, Henry VIII to Julia Child.'” See article at: http://www.theday.com/article/20160620/ENT10/160629987

Lisa Saunders was interviewed about "After the Loss of a Spouse, Henry VIII to Julia Child" on TV. Watch: https://youtu.be/3ZJyFjMDG0o

Think you know your widow history?  Take the "Widow Quiz!" at: http://authorlisasaunders.blogspot.com/2016/08/take-famously-widowed-quiz.html

About the author: Lisa Saunders is an award-winning writer and local access TV talk show host residing in Mystic, Connecticut. A graduate of Cornell University, she is the author of several books and works as a part-time history interpreter at Mystic Seaport. In 2015, Saunders was the driving force behind getting Connecticut to become the second state in the U.S. to pass a law to combat the #1 viral cause of birth defects, congenital cytomegalovirus. In 2010, she was awarded gold medallion by National Council for Marketing & Public Relations. Visit Lisa at: www.AuthorLisaSaunders.com

For more information about the book, contact Dr. Joanne Z. Moore, Publisher, Act II Publications, LLC, Editor, Pathfinder: A Companion Guide for the Widow/er’s Journey, www.widowedpathfinder.com, 860-448-5149, jmoore@widowedpathfinder.com

The book is available on Amazon as an e-book or paperback at: https://www.amazon.com/After-Loss-Spouse-Henry-Julia/dp/0692705406/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

About: “After the Loss of a Spouse: Henry VIII to Julia Child”

Published: May 25, 2016

Act II Publications, LLC

$9.95 U.S.

150 pages

Paperback: 6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm) 

 Interior: Black & White on Cream paper

 ISBN-13: 978-0692705407 

BISAC: History / General

Weds, 8/24, 6 pm: "After the Loss” Self-Improvement Series

This exploration of both grief and possibility will take an uplifting approach to handling loss.

Authors Dr. Joanne Z. Moore, editor of Pathfinder: A Companion Guide to the Widow/er Journey, and Lisa Saunders, whose daughter passed away at 16, are collaborating to present "After the Loss of a Spouse," the next installment of Bank Square Books' Self-Improvement Series on August 24, 2016, in Mystic, Connecticut.

For more information, see the following press release, click here for flyer, or visit Bank Square Book's webpage at: MYSTIC: Self-Improvement Series: After the Loss of a Spouse, Featuring Joanne Z. Moore and Lisa Saunders 

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

"After the Loss of a Spouse" Self-Improvement Series

 

Free and open to the public at Bank Square Books on August 24. 2016

Mystic, Conn.--Authors Dr. Joanne Z. Moore, a widow, and Lisa Saunders, whose daughter passed away at 16, are collaborating to present "After the Loss of a Spouse," the next installment of Bank Square Books' Self-Improvement Series on August 24.

Wednesday, Aug. 24, 6 p.m.
Talk: "After the Loss” Self-Improvement Series

Free and open to the public

Bank Square Books, 2nd floor

53 W Main St, Mystic, CT 06355

(More info:MYSTIC: Self-Improvement Series: After the Loss of a Spouse, Featuring Joanne Z. Moore and Lisa Saunders ,  860- 536-3795, events@mysticbooksinc.com)

This exploration of both grief and possibility will take an uplifting approach to handling loss.

 Dr. Joanne Z. Moore will present modern strategies for developing a new philosophy of life after the disappointment of loss, while Lisa Saunders will share examples of how famous figures with Connecticut connections, such as Mark Twain, William Gillette (aka Sherlock Holmes) and Amelia Earhart's widower, handled their loss and moved forward to make a difference in the lives of others. Moore and Saunders are authors of the books, After the Loss of a Spouse: What's Next? and After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child respectively. Dr. Moore, a widow, is the owner of Shoreline Physical Therapy in East Lyme and editor of Pathfinder: A Companion Guide for the Widow/ers Journey.  Lisa Saunders, whose daughter passed away at 16, is a part-time historical interpreter at Mystic Seaport and TV talk show host. In 2015, Lisa was instrumental in getting Connecticut to become the second state in the U.S. to pass a law to battle the disease that disabled and killed her daughter, congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV).

For more information about the presentation, contact Dr. Joanne Z. Moore at 860-460-0248, jmoore@widowedpathfinder.com, or visit: www.PathfinderMag.com

 

 

To learn more about the authors and their books, watch their TV interviews at:

Dr. Joanne Z. Moore and After the Loss of a Spouse: What Next?:
at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg33K5hhu1g

Lisa Saunders and After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child:

at: https://youtu.be/3ZJyFjMDG0o

 

 

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Photo Caption:  Dr. Joanne Z. Moore and Lisa Saunders co-present "After the Loss of a Spouse" Self Improvement Series at Bank Square Books on August 24, 2016, 6 p.m., at Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut.

About their books:

 

 

After the Loss of a Spouse: What's Next? by Dr. Joanne Z. Moore is a concise guidebook for rebuilding a life after the loss of a spouse. Topics include getting one’s affairs in order, finance, exercise, home, health, emotions, decision making, family, travel, friendship, hobbies, return to dating, pets, managing mistakes, setting goals, and the problems of self-medicating with drugs and alcohol.

After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child by Lisa Saunders examines the bittersweet human condition of love and loss though the lens of history. By learning how these famous (and infamous) people managed their lives after loss, we come to realize the potential that exists in all of us. Book includes questions for discussion and the stories of these 18 historic widow/ers: Mark Twain * C.S. Lewis * George Burns * Grandma Moses * Martha Washington * Norman Rockwell * Mary Todd Lincoln * Milton Hershey (Hershey's Kisses) * Julia Child * Coretta Scott King * Captain von Trapp (of The Sound of Music) * Henry VIII Katharine Graham (of The Washington Post) *George Palmer Putnam (Amelia Earhart’s widower) *Hetty Green (world’s biggest miser) *Abby Day Slocomb (sent recently opened 100-year time capsule to Groton) * William Gillette (aka Sherlock Holmes) * Frances Sawyer Wolfe (moved to Mystic home with “widow’s walk” after sea captain husband perished in Texas’s worst Maritime disaster).

 

Do you think you know what these historic widow/ers did after their loss? Take the "Widow Quiz!" at: http://authorlisasaunders.blogspot.com/2016/08/take-famously-widowed-quiz.html

Community Culture Showcase: Lisa Saunders

Do you know Widow History? Take the Widow Quiz!

What did Mark Twain, George Burns, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Amelia Earhart's widower do after losing their spouse?  About “After the Loss of a Spouse: Henry VIII to Julia Child”, David S. Martin, Professor/Dean Emeritus, Gallaudet University, writes: "How they handled their loss, their guilt, and in some cases a plan for a future without their spouses, makes fascinating reading for anyone with interest in both the history and the human side of well-known figures."

TEST YOUR WIDOW KNOWLEDGE! TAKE THE WIDOW QUIZ!

See questions below the 18 featured widow/ers or click here to print pdf of quiz:

 

1. Mark Twain
2. Captain von Trapp
3. C.S. Lewis
4. George Burns
5. Henry VIII
6. Grandma Moses
7. Martha Washington
8. Norman Rockwell
9. Mary Todd Lincoln
10. Julia Child 
11. Coretta Scott King
12. George Palmer Putnam
13. Milton Hershey
14. Katharine Graham
15. Abby Day Slocomb
16. Frances Sawyer Wolfe
17. William Gillette
18. Hetty Green

 

1.      Who fell in love again over poetry? ___

 

2.      Whose bodily fluids after death were licked up by a dog? ___

 

3.      Who was declared insane and committed to a mental asylum?  ___

 

4.      Who left a restaurant in the middle of dessert when news of spouse’s death was received? ___

 

5.      Who “adopted” granddaughters by forming a literary club? ___

 

6.      Who earned the title, “World’s Greatest Miser”? ___

 

7.      Whose memoir revealed their infidelity and spouse’s reaction to it? ___

 

8.      Whose spouse died in Texas’s worst maritime disaster then moved into a house with a widow’s walk in Mystic, Connecticut? ___

 

9.      Who wanted their missing spouse declared legally dead before the standard 7-year period? ___

 

10.   Who left the bedroom and moved to the attic? ___

 

11.   Which former Confederate went on to design the Connecticut State flag and write a letter not to be read for 100 years? ___

 

12.   Who became Sherlock Holmes on stage and coined the phrase, “Elementary, my dear Watson” (hint: he also held birthday parties for cats on his houseboat)? ___

 

13.   Who chose to pursue painting rather than raise chickens? ___

 

14.   Who was arrested with three of their children? ___

 

15.   Who rejected marrying a princess because he fell in love with a household staff member? ___

 

16.   Which RMS Titanic ticket holder, who took an earlier ship home, donated their entire fortune to a school for orphans? ___

 

17.      Who took over her spouse’s work and received threats for her role in bringing down the Nixon administration? ___

 

 

18.   Who wrote: “Why is He [God] so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in time of trouble?” ___

Answers to the above are found in book: After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child by Lisa Saunders.

Each widow/er chapter is followed by questions for discussion. Order through your bookstore or Amazon (available in paperback and e-book). Answers to the above questions found on following pages:

1: (p. 74); 2: (p.4); 3: (p.16); 4: (p. 97); 5: (p. 21); 6: (p. 25); 7: (p.87); 8: (p.37); 9: (p. 54); 10: (p. 7); 11: (p. 103); 12: (p. 44); 13: (p. 62); 14: (p.101); 15: (p. 79); 16: (p.59); 17:(p. 93); 18: (p.70).

Contact author Lisa Saunders at:  LisaSaunders42@gmail.com or visit her at www.AuthorLisaSaunders.com

 

Upcoming Events/Workshop with Lisa Saunders

Friday, August 12, 7:45 p.m.

Talk: "Tales of Famous Connecticut Widow's Walks"

Free and open to the public

Mystic River Yacht Club (next to Engine Room restaurant)

14 Holmes Street, Mystic, CT 06355, (More info: amarfoster@gmail.com, 860 536-0066)

Lisa Saunders, author of “After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child” with discuss famous widow/ers with Connecticut ties such as Amelia Earhart’s widower, George Palmer Putnam (married in Noank); Mark Twain, who had a lot to say about Mystic; the widow behind the Connecticut State flag design, Abby Day Slocomb, who enclosed a challenge in a 100-year-old time capsule sent from Europe during WWI; William Gillette (a.k.a Sherlock Holmes) of Gillette's Castle in East Haddam; and the Guinness World Record Holder for "Greatest Miser," Hetty Green, who is connected to the last surviving wooden whaleship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan, at Mystic Seaport.

 

Weds, Aug. 24, 6 p.m.

"After the Loss" Self-Improvement Series

Free and open to the public

Bank Square Books, 2nd floor

53 W Main St, Mystic, CT 06355

Authors Dr. Joanne Z. Moore and Lisa Saunders will discuss lifestyle options after the loss of a spouse. Saunders will tell stories of historic figures such as Amelia Earhart's husband and Mark Twain, and Dr. Moore will present modern strategies for developing a new philosophy of life after the disappointment of loss. Saunders and Dr. Moore are authors of the books, After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child and After the Loss of a Spouse: What's Next?  respectively. More info: www.banksquarebooks.com, (860) 536-3795, events@mysticbooksinc.com

 Amazon link to book:  https://www.amazon.com/After-Loss-Spouse-Henry-Julia/dp/0692705406/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464438290&sr=8-1&keywords=after+the+loss+of+a+spouse+henry+viii

 

 

 

Upcoming Events/Workshop with Lisa Saunders

 UPCOMING EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS WITH LISA SAUNDERS

Tues, March 27, 46pm

Write About Your Life
	506	3/27	Tu  4-6pm	Saunders	New London Adult Ed - Three Shaw's Cove

Come to class with pen and paper or your laptop. Writing exercises will include some basic questions to help you get started. Publishing options will also be discussed

$39/Non-resident $44. Instructor: Lisa Saunders

Weds, April 4, 3-5pm

Book Writing Workshop

@Home of Lisa Saunders

This workshop is designed to help you share your written words with others and formulate next steps toward writing or publication. The first half-hour will be dedicated to reading aloud your work or discussing ideas. Then be prepared to sit quietly and write. The workshop will end with questions and ideas for writing, publishing and marketing. Light refreshments served. The workshop facilitator is Lisa Saunders who also does one-on-one book writing/publishing/marketing consulting upon request.

Cost: $10

www.AuthorLisaSaunders.com

Thursday, April 12, 2018, at 7 PM. Civil War Love Letters of a Union Private and His Teenage WifeWood Memorial Library and Museum
783 Main Street, South Windsor, Connecticut

Author Lisa Saunders will give a behind-the-scenes look at the lives and letters of Union Private Charles McDowell and his teenage wife, Nancy, from her book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife.  Enlisting in the Union Army in 1862, Charles's letters tell of meeting President Lincoln, bullets, battles, hangings, “clever women,”  destruction of Confederate property, and the court marshaling of a cow. In response, Nancy tells of prostitutes, venereal disease and other local gossip. Author Lisa Saunders is the great-great granddaughter of Charles and Nancy McDowell. For more information, contact: Maureen Bourn, program chairperson, South Windsor Historical Society, mowog179@hotmail.com, 860-649-2172

Wednesday, May 9

"Had I Known (about CMV)": Song & Book Launch

Mystic & Noank Library

40 Library Street, Mystic, CT 06355

Debra Lynn Alt, a former lead singer for the Rolling Stone Magazine House Band, will perform her new song, "Had I Known (about CMV)." The song conveys how a mother feels when she learns her newborn's disabilities might have been prevented had she known about CMV (cytomegalovirus), the leading viral cause of birth defects--a much greater threat to newborns than Zika. Lisa Saunders, the parent representative of the Congenital Cytomegalovirus Foundation, will be on hand to discuss how she helped Connecticut become the second state to pass a law aimed at battling CMV, and her new book, "Help Childcare Providers Fight CMV." Light refreshments served.

More info about CMV: cdc.gov/cmv; Debra Lynn Alt: debrasong.com; or Lisa Saunders: authorlisasaunders.com.

Time: 3:30pm

Cost: Free

www.mysticnoanklibrary.org

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Lisa is available to speak to your group on a variety of topics including how to share your mission; how to write a book; horse book fun; table setting; surviving loss (healing through writing); or she can work with your members to present a “reader’s theater.” As a writer and marketing consultant, Lisa was awarded the "Gold Medallion of Excellence" from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations. As publisher of the Mystic Seafarer's Trail newsletter and instructor at New London Adult and Continuing Education, she shares news and stories and helps others share theirs. As parent representative of the Congenital CMV (Cytomegalovirus) Foundation, she works to prevent the leading viral cause of birth defects, which causes more birth defects than the Zika virus.