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About Barbara
I’m Barbara Falconer Newhall and I’ve got a serious case of the human condition.
I’ve done it all: career, family, house, garden, and a prize-winning book, "Wrestling with God." The result: I'm a woman of years, lots of them, who can't help seeing things from the funny side.
Tucked away on this website are hundreds of riffs on life. I hope you’ll seek them out – and keep me company as I discover the humor, if not the meaning, in what life throws my way. Learn More
THE LATEST
Happy Birthday, US of A. You Made It to 250.
Happy birthday, US of A! You made it to 250. A little the worse for wear, but still here. Read more.
BARBARA’S BOOK
★ Publishers Weekly, starred review
Any seeker of any faith will be blessed to read the words of this fine author and observer. Read more.
An inveterate doubter for most of her adult life, journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall embarks upon a quest to find a way to believe in God in the twenty-first century.
The result is Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith, which details her search for the Divine in the lives of diverse Americans – from a fundamentalist Christian to a progressive Muslim to a Buddhist monk.Seekers of all persuasions will feel represented here, from priests, ministers, and rabbis to engineers, physicists, and avowed non-believers . . . a riverflow of a book. — Phil Cousineau, host of PBS’s Global Spirit
Recent Riffs on Life
Sixteen Years Left to Live. How Many Bowls of Froot Loops Is That?
In the sixteen years I’ve got left, how many of the gotta-do items on my to-do list will I get done? Read more.
Was My Mother a 1950s Tradwife?
My mother was a tradwife, a bona fide 1950s tradwife. That’s what she wanted. That’s what she got. Read more.
DON’T MISS!
A Case of the Human Condition: Build a Wind Farm — Wreck Lake Michigan
I saw the map and burst into tears. It broke my heart. Windmills, a hundred square miles of them, are being proposed for Lake Michigan – a couple miles off shore. In the lake. Beautiful, serene, life-giving Lake Michigan. Read more.
Leaves, Twigs and Seeds at the de Young — It’s Art, but Is It a Bouquet?
Nothing seems to be off limits to the floral designers who’ve filled the courts and galleries of the de Young Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco this week with arrangements of flowers, twigs, branches, seed pods, pussy willows and succulents for the museum’s annual exhibition Bouquets to Art.
Writing Tips — Begged, Borrowed, but Mostly Stolen From My Favorite Writing Coaches
I’ve been writing personal essays, newspaper columns and blog posts for years now. I’ve learned some writing tricks the hard way — by trial and error. Others I’ve just plain stolen from my various writing coaches. Here are some of my favorite personal essay writing tips.