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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.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment
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?
By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments
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?
By Barbara Falconer Newhall 8 Comments
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!
Sue Johnson’s Lamps and Shades — Works of Art From a Little Shop in Berkeley
On Solano Avenue in the far north reaches of Berkeley, California, a modest storefront softly glows, luring me in every time I pass by. It’s Sue Johnson’s custom lamp and shade store.
Did the Pandemic Shut-Down Change the Way We Live?
Travel with me back in time to the bad old days of 2020 to consider — did the pandemic shut-down change the way we live? Read more.
Widowed: Her Stolen Car Came Back, but My Husband Didn’t . . . And All Shall Be Well?
The same death that took Jesus took my husband. Can we say then that all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well? Read more.







