I reread (and listened to) one of my favorite books, When Breath Becomes Air, before speaking to late author Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s widow, Lucy. The book was as moving, thought-provoking, and immersive now as it was when I first inhaled it. It’s no surprise that the book spent 68 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction list and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Dr. Paul Kalinithi was obsessed with life and death, philosophy, literature, and science, delving deep into the why of it all, before falling terminally ill with cancer himself, dying at age 37. He left his book, for which Lucy wrote the epilogue and Abraham Verghese wrote the foreword, but he also left his family. I spoke to Lucy about life after Paul, how she toured on his behalf, her relationships and career post-loss, and her daughter. The world lost such a brilliant, special soul. This book is a must-read.
","author_name":"Zibby Owens"}