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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 4 Comments

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!

A New Roll-Out for ‘Wrestling with God’ — Just in Time for the Holidays

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

wresting-with-god-cover-newhall-2024

Big news! Today is the day. It’s a new roll-out for my prizewinning book “Wrestling with God.” Join the celebration. Buy a copy or two!  Read more.

Is My Writing Too Nice?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

NASA-satellite-michigan

I sometimes wonder when I sit down to write — am I too much of an optimist? Am I too hopeful? Too trusting? Is my writing too nice?  Read more.

I’m a Grammar Geek: I Don’t Get Nauseous. I’ve Never Received a Kudo. And I Never, Ever Lay on My Yoga Mat

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

stack-of-yoga-mats

I’m a grammar geek and I’m old: I don’t get nauseous. I’ve never received a kudo. And I never, ever lay on my yoga mat.  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

Jack Shoemaker of Counterpoint Press Shares Fifty Years of Book Publishing Wisdom

Jack Shoemaker of Counterpoint Press spoke at the Oct. 5 meeting of Left Coast Writers.

Jack Shoemaker of Counterpoint Press shared 50 years of publishing wisdom at a meeting of the Left Coast Writers at Book Passage in Marin County. 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!

An exotic orange blossom from Bloomster's floral designer Kren P. Rasmussen. Photo by BF Newhall

I Can’t Take My Eyes Off Those Flowers — From the Mighty Rose to the Humble Daisy

house remodel mess

Sheltering at Home: Day Zero

Widowed, I’m Staying Put. And So Are My Bricks

three-wise-men

Christmas — It Ain’t Over Till the Wise Men Show

MORE DON'T MISS!

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