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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!

I Let the Maytag Man Into the House. And I Here’s What I Learned About Human Nature. Sheltering at Home Week 7

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

time to call the Maytag Man

Plumber, handyman, Maytag Man, flood abatement guy. Four service people came into our house this week, bringing help and simple human kindness. Read more.

Wait for Me! (Keeping up With the Twenty-Somethings)

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

wait for me, I cried out to the speedy young woman dressed in pink and gray running clothes as she sped ahead of me. Photo by Barbara Newhall

 I was a tiny preschooler, pumping away on my tricycle, near tears because the big kids were leaving me behind. Today, I was a lot older — and left in the dust again. Read more. 

Big News — Big Changes for This 2009 Website

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Big Changes for This 2009 Website lawn-chair-on-deck

Two big changes for my — 2009! — website: a major redesign and a more spacious writing schedule for me.  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

My Big Brother Loves Me — The Cataract Chronicles Continued

In 1962, when Barbara Falconer Newhall returned from summer in Europe with souvenirs for family. Barbara Newhall photo

When my big brother saw me without glasses for the first time in a half century, his reaction took me by surprise. 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!

Donald Trump studies Barack Obama in a TV shot. The conversation was gracious. I'm following suit. I'm going to stop bad-mouthing Donald Trump. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I Decided to Stop Bad-Mouthing Donald Trump. But Will I?

Clip from video of NBC News report on Donald Trump's statement to Chris Matthews that if abortion is made illegal a woman should be punished for having one. NBC News Video

Donald Trump Outs the Elephant in the Pro-Life Room

cover of the vhs version of the disney movie, cinderella

Scrubbing the Floor With My Daughter Cinderella

Saeng-lattanatham-painter-outside-my-window

I’m Thanking People a Lot These Days. Why Is That?

MORE DON'T MISS!

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