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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

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About Barbara

Barbara Falconer Newhall at her home office desk getting ready to do final edits on her book, "Wrestling with God." Photo by Barbara Newhall

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

Widowed: Archiving My Husband and Zodiac, His Scrappy 1970s News Service

By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

Zodiac-News-Service-Nov-11-12-1972

Can you archive a dead spouse? Can you stash them away in a temperature-controlled academic repository, to be preserved for centuries?  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.
"Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith" book cover with photo of author Barbara Falconer Newhall

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

Click to learn more about "Wrestling with God"

Recent Riffs on Life

Happy Birthday, US of A. You Made It to 250.

By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

happy birthday us of a. 250 American-flag-flying-against-the-sky-250

Happy birthday, US of A! You made it to 250. A little the worse for wear, but still here.  Read more.

Sixteen Years Left to Live. How Many Bowls of Froot Loops Is That?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

froot-loops-at-my-grocery-store

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.

MORE RIFFS ON LIFE

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition

  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

  • My Ever-Changing Family

  • On Writing & Reading

Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

DON’T MISS!

I Love Pope Francis — Or Do I?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A score of Catholic clergy were present at the annual conference of the Religion Newswriters Association in Philadelphia, August, 2015. Photo by Barbara Newhall

My honeymoon with Catholicism’s newest pope is over. I’m done with getting all goosebumpy over Pope Francis and the tone he’s setting for his church. Read more.

I’m Back! The Writer in Me Is Back With a Book Pitch

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The Douro River from a Viking Cruise ship. After travels, writer me is back at work on a book pitch.

I’m back at the keyboard and hard at work on the book pitch for my project. What do you think? Read more.

My First Royalty Check Has Arrived — How Cool Is That?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Barbara Falconer Newhall's book "Wrestling with God" is on display on a counter in A Great Good Place for Books bookstore in Oakland California. Photo by Barbara Newha

Hey! Hey! My very first royalty check has arrived. It’s not big bucks, but it’s real. Read more.

MORE DON'T MISS!

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True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Widowed: Life Goes On — And Some of Us Still Like It

life goes on, as with this crocosmia-sprouting-through-a-deck Like it or not, life goes on. Our 101-year-old family friend had picked up the phone to check on me. If that’s not liking life, what is?   Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

cindy weyant newhall at the 2010 national open chess tournament in Las Vegas pondering a move. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Cindy Newhall Weyant — A Bright Light Has Gone Out

The Sombrero Galaxy, NASA. NASA & STScI photo. copyright@stsci.edu

Geoff Machin — We Go Looking for God, When We Could Be Having a Beer

patriotic holiday gifts might include an American flag like this one in Pentwater, MI. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Fifteen Patriotic Holiday Gifts for the Worried Progressives on Your List

father-daughter

My Deceased Husband’s Voice — Coming at Me From the Stars

MORE DON'T MISS!

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