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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

Bob Woodward’s Sad and Dangerous Friendship (Journalism Students Take Note)

By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

An essay about Bob Woodward’s sad and dangerous professional friendship could be required reading for journalism students.  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

Will I Still Be Loveable When I’ve Lost All My Marbles?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall 14 Comments

Ten years from now, when I’ve lost some — all? — of my marbles, will I still be loveable? Will I even be me?  Read more.

A 1970s Counterculture Bash at Zodiac News Service. Were You There?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall 11 Comments

It was a 1970s counterculture bash at Zodiac News Service. If you were there, pls help ID these party-goer pix. (Be patient. Lots of photos to upload!) 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!

Stalking Superman

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Actor Christopher Dennis on curb of Hollywood Boulevard dressed as Superman. Photo by BF Newhall

There he was. In the flesh. Tall and slender and muscled and oh-so-handsome. Sigh. It was Superman. The Man of Steel of my girlhood fantasies. My dream man. Read more.

Bouquets to Art 2017 — Seduced by Those Quirky, Charming Boxed Bouquets

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Bouquets to Art 2917. San Francisco. Samanth Williams with Clara McInerney, Dimitri Tretiakoff created a window niche design commenting on the Golden Gate Park landscape outdoors. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I spent a glorious day at the Bouquets to Art 2017 exhibition in San Francisco, where several stunning boxed floral arrangements stole the show.  Read more.

Widowed: My Husband Is the Hero of My Next Book

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

widowed My husband is the hero of my next book man-with-toddler-on-shoulers

My husband is the hero of my next book. I wanted it all — family and career. And Jon made it possible. Read more.

MORE DON'T MISS!

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Widowed: Who Will Look After Me Now That Jon Is Gone?

Farmers-market

Jon was the one I could count on for rides to car repair shops and colonoscopies. Who will look after me now?  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!

American flag flies next to a Michigan State University Trojans banner. Lots of Michigan State fans in Pentwater. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Guest Post From Jon: Does “Under God” Belong in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Image of Jesus Christ from the Hagia Sophia. Photo by Barbara Newhalljon-and-barbara-newhall-get-married

Would My Husband Like to Take My Name?

2024-calendar

Here Comes Another Year!

Peter Newhall lifts his Reds baseball cap during Piedmont CA rec department game. Photo 1991 by BF Newhall

Will Our Kids Grow Up to Be Cheaters Like Lance Armstrong?

MORE DON'T MISS!

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