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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
Forget Those Charming Little Forget-Me-Nots. They’re Not as Innocent as They Seem
Forget those charming little forget-me-nots. They’re not as guileless as they look. They have an agenda. 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
I Confess. In 2020, I Washed the Potatoes. With Soap
It was April, 2020. The pandemic was underway and you couldn’t be too careful about what you let into your house, including your groceries. Which is why I washed the potatoes, with soap. Read more.
What to Do With Those Battered Old Baby Shoes? Hide Them in a Wall, of Course
Those battered old baby shoes? Hide them in a wall. It’s centuries old tradition that lets you declutter without giving up your dear old stuff. Read more.
DON’T MISS!
A Totality Disappointment in St. Joseph, Missouri
We traveled 1700 miles to see the eclipse. The moon came between us and the sun, as promised. But so did a big fat cloud. A totality disappointment. Read more.
I’m Old. And Here’s What I Like About That
I’m old. And what I like most about that is — I’m not in the thick of things anymore. I don’t have to be. I’ve got other things to do. Read more.
San Francisco’s George Leonard and the Tao of Writing
George Leonard, one of the founders of the human potential movement, and I both worked at Look magazine during the 1960s. We knew each other — that is to say, I knew who he was. Read more.