Main Content
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
Widowed: If I Visit His Grave, Will It Help?
I said hello to Jon and his family, and then there was nothing more to do in this graveyard. 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
Maybe I Want a Facelift After All
Facelifts that leave your cheeks looking like you’re facing into 100-mph headwinds are not for me. Or are they? Read more.
Big News — Big Changes for This 2009 Website
Two big changes for my — 2009! — website: a major redesign and a more spacious writing schedule for me. Read more.
DON’T MISS!
Bouquets to Art 2017 — Seduced by Those Quirky, Charming Boxed Bouquets
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.
Will Our Kids Grow Up to Be Cheaters Like Lance Armstrong?
Will my kids grow up to be cheaters? Is it possible to raise honest children in this Pete Rose-Bernie Madoff world — where something like 50 percent of students admit to cheating? Read More
Airbnb — When a Home Away From Home Gets Way Too Homey
Airbnb is supposed to be a good deal — homey and cheap. But maybe, really I’d be better off in a real bed and breakfast like this one. Read more.