Life with Sam

Superbly enhanced with photography by Simeon Hutner, Life With Sam is the free-verse poetic celebration by Elizabeth Hall Hutner of a little boy's life, death, and remembrance. This blending of heartfulet verses and memorable photographs embrace the life and joy one so young brought to the life of his mother, during his all too brief brief stay with her. Today, I Went Right To His Grave. / I Put Down The Flowers, And Looked / At The Boxwoods Sam's Stepfather / Has Planted On Each Side Of The Stone. / I Held The New Baby In My Arms, / And I Cried As I Read Sam's Name.

This slim volume packs more emotional punch than any ten books, art films, love songs, etc., that you will come across this year. Exploring the hope that waits behind loss, and the heartbreak that waits behind hope, this book will, quite simply, floor you once you read it. All three participants are people of immense courage -- photographer Simeon Hutner, for being able to stand behind the camera and capture the struggle of his family, his sister Elizabeth, whose poems eloquently describe not only the big-picture emotions of those faced with the unfairness of tragedy, but also the little details that make it that much more tragic, and finally her son, Sam, whose trusting, accepting, haunting gaze penetrates past the pages directly into our souls. It's an astonishing work of art, which moved me like few works have before. I highly recommend it to any and all... but you really have to be prepared for an emotional jolt when you pick this book up.

An abiding partnership that arises from losses endured by a sister and brother shadows the edge of each page in this amazing little book of words and images where death is not only rendered with a bright, unflinching eye but questioned, pondered, and wrestled with by siblings who through their love for a child, for art, and for each other refused to be silenced by the great wall of suffering they each faced alone. An essential book for anyone involved with the sorrows of cancer, but more importantly, anyone willing to look at what real courage demands.