Features

The Things We Do for Grief: Marathons, Memoirs & More

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Our Mourning, Noon & Night columnist introduces us to 6 people who channeled their grief to achieve the extraordinary.

What I Mourn When I Mourn Robin Williams

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What Gen Xers mourn when we mourn Robin Williams.

Robin Williams: His ‘Little Spark’ Gave Off So Much Light

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For comic genius Robin Williams — dead in an apparent suicide — there was ultimately no reprieve from the darkness.

Motherless Daughters on the Road

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Authors Hope Edelman and Allison Gilbert are leading a group of motherless women on an ambitious trek and volunteer vacation in Peru.

The Death Doula

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Hear the word "doula" and you're likely to think of a birth coach. But some doulas are trained to help the dying. I was one of them.

The Hungry Mourner

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From funeral biscuits to cemetery picnics to parsley crowns, here's how the world marks death with food.

Into Thin Air

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HBO's The Leftovers' isn't a show about The Rapture; it's show about grief — and our wide-ranging responses to it.

How Do You Want To Die?

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When it comes to discussing the end of life, 'it's always too soon, until it's too late.' The Conversation Project explains how to start that dreaded talk with loved ones.

A Card Game Tackles ‘Living and Dying Well’

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Action Mill's new card game about 'living and dying well' prompts players to discuss the tough stuff.

Among Motherless Daughters

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Each year, scores of women whose mothers have died unpack their loss at the Motherless Daughters conference. This year I was one of them.

The Duo Behind “The (Dead Mothers) Club”

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"The (Dead Mothers) Club" filmmakers Carlye Rubin and Katie Green discuss their partnership and activism, and how technology is opening up conversations around death.

Rites of Passage

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Rituals of all kinds — from daily prayers to playing pop songs — can help mitigate grief after loss, a new study out of Harvard shows.

Remembering Parents Lost to AIDS

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Hundreds of thousands have died of AIDS in this country. Now, two women are building a community of those who lost parents to the disease.

Small Screen, Big Loss

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‘How I Met Your Mother’ and ‘The Good Wife’ finales portray loss through two lenses.

A Class on Death Yields a Fuller Life

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A popular college class is changing students' perspectives on death — and transforming their lives in the process.

Sweet Therapy

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Word to the wise: a modern house of mourning requires copious amounts of chocolate. Bake these cookies the next time you need to show your love.

March 12 is Katie Fisher Day

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Left spinning after his sister's sudden death, a comedian harnessed social media to create a holiday in her memory.

Philip Seymour Hoffman: A Man We All Knew (But Didn’t)

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In the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman's demise, let's not make a sport out of dredging up the details of his final moments.

‘Girls’ on Grief

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When it comes to loss and the 20-something, the HBO hit gets it right, says our resident TV guru.

How the World Says Goodbye

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From a festive graveside picnic in Mexico to an elaborate gift-giving ceremony in India, check Modern Loss' interactive map featuring memorial rituals from around the world.

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