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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!

Should Authors Read Reviews of Their Books? I Did

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Should authors read reviews of their books? I did. Wrestling with God book on sale at Great Good Place for Books bookstore in Oakland, CA. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Should authors read reviews of their books? I’ve read mine, and I’ve got opinions about at least one of them. Read more.

Yippee, an IPPY — “Wrestling with God” Wins the Gold

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

IPPY-awards Independed Publishers Book Awards

Great news! “Wrestling with God” has won a gold medal IPPY  in the annual Independent Publisher Book Awards. The category is Religion, Eastern-Western. Read more.

Winter Solstice — My Mother’s Last Words to Me Before She Died

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

tinka falconer at Lake Michigan

My mother’s last words to me were nothing much. No parting words of love. No heartfelt messages to the grandchildren. Read more.

MORE DON'T MISS!

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries: Snapping Pictures at My Son’s Wedding

Handsome groom in tux, vest and tie with pink boutonniere before his wedding. Photo by BF Newhall

 

My trusty point and shoot goes with me everywhere these days. But for my son’s wedding I resolved to Be In The Moment and resist the temptation to digitize every last detail of my son’s big day. 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!

Christmas is big, and so is this store window Santa. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Christmas Is Big. Bigger Than Christianity — And Donald Trump

FALCONER-family-1940s

A Child Is Born — And So Is a Grandpa

to-do-list

Widowed: The Meaning of Life? It’s on My To-Do List

damaged-mandala-sand-painting

Widowed: The One Good Thing About Grief

MORE DON'T MISS!

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