No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons Around Our Gay Loved Ones

When I finished reading No More Goodbyes I wanted everyone to read it. I bought every copy at our local bookstore and have been passing them around to family and friends. Reading it filled me with love for our gay brothers and sisters, sorrow for their sufferings, respect for their strengths, and determination to do all I can to contribute to their happiness. Whether you are gay yourself, know someone who is gay, or even if you don't know anyone personally who is gay - I highly recommend reading this book.

I just completed reading this touching book after having also recently read "Goodbye, I Love You," her book that brought me to tears. Being a gay male who was previously married, fathering a son, going through a divorce, and all along attempting to reconcile my evangelical Christian faith with my sexuality, both books spoke directly to me in many ways. Carol Lynn is a magnificent writer with a style that let's the reader know that she writes from her heart. I found that "No More Goodbyes," although consisting of a majority of LDS-related testimonials relative to non-heterosexuality and the life crises that it created, speaks to hearts of all persons of faith. This book is worth every cent if you are looking for encouragement and greater tolerance for yourself or others who are dealing with issues of faith and spirituality. Carol Lynn is truly gifted for her God-given calling to promote healing in the lives touched by differences in sexual orientation and/or gender identity. This book illustrates how families that could have turned their backs on loved ones instead chose to support true family values!

As an LDS teenager, I was deeply moved by Carol Lynn Pearson's play My Turn on Earth. Many years later, as I was struggling to come to terms with being both Mormon and gay, friends brought to my attention her book Goodbye, I Love You, about her relationship with her gay husband, Gerald Pearson. This book literally changed my life, and helped pave the way to deeper understanding and acceptance between me and my parents. So it was with great eagerness that I read No More Goodbyes, released to coincide with the tweny-year anniversary of Goodbye I Love You. No More Goodbyes tells the stories of the many gay men and lesbians she has come to know in the two decades since her husband's death. Some of the stories are told in the words of the people they are about; some are lovingly retold by Pearson. Many are tragedies, stories of unnecessary brokenness, despair and suicide. Many are triumphs, stories of overcoming adversity, and rebuilding relationships that have been shattered by fear and misunderstanding. A theme in many of these stories is the power of love unfettered by dogma, hearts that reach out even when heads say they should not. Pearson writes from a place of deep listening, fierce love, and acceptance. Pearson is a Latter-day Saint, and so are the subjects of most (though not all) of these stories. But if you are looking for theological arguments about homosexuality and Mormon faith, look elsewhere. This book is grounded in a simple faith in the importance of listening and in the power of stories. If there is a theology somewhere in there, it is simply that love should be at the heart of all religion, and can be the heart of OUR religion if we will open ourselves to it. I love this book, and I love Carol Lynn Pearson. For those who know nothing about the topic of homosexuality, this book will enlighten. For those who are all too familiar with the topic from being in the thick of painful struggles over it, this book offers comfort and encouragement. At a time when arguments about the place of gay people in our churches and in society are raging, few books could be more timely or more important.

I was a fan of Carol Lynn Pearson's writing before I ever knew about her experiences with her husband, Gerald, or "Goodbye, I Love You." Her new book, "No More Goodbyes" is no exception and is truly excellent. If it doesn't bring tears to your eyes in one way or another, then I would be deeply surprised. This book is an amazing and genuine collection of the experiences of people who've had to find some common ground between two worlds where very often it seems that there is none. It's a good way for people who have limited experience with the issues of conflicting religion and sexuality to get a taste of many different types of experiences and see through the eyes of others who have tried to walk that path. In this case specifically through the eyes of the LDS faith, but the stories and messages could easily be applied to many other types of faith. "No More Goodbyes" is very good about showing many different experiences without being too "preachy" to the reader about what one's course of action should be regarding religion and homosexuality. I experienced many different emotions as I read. Sympathy, anger, sorrow, fear, joy, and hope. These are stories that need to be told and Carol Lynn has provided a voice for them. Please read this book, whatever side of these issues your views may fall upon!

Written by award finalist author Carol Lynn Pearson, No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons Around Our Gay Loved Ones is a collection of true vignettes about religious Mormon people who relate to their gay loved ones, who are in turn often condemned by the church (and according to some people's beliefs, by God) for their homosexuality. Though No More Goodbyes tells the stories of Mormon families adapting to the tumultuous change that a revelation of homosexuality brings, the stories are sure to strike a chord with all readers who have had to navigate the difficult waters between religion and sexual orientation. No More Goodbyes does not judge or condemn; Pearson loves and wishes well gay friends who choose lifelong celibacy, openly gay friends who attempt to preserve their heterosexual marriages despite the obvious difficulties, and gay friends who choose to pursue gay relationships. What No More Goodbyes does denounce are the tragedies of high suicide rates among gays, the terrible anguish that results from hiding one's sexual orientation in order to marry someone of the opposite sex, and any religious or simply bigoted promotion of hatred or suffering. Also highly recommended is Person's previous best-selling book "Goodbye, I Love You" about her own husband, whose homosexuality simply could not change and inevitably led to divorce, eventually followed by her caring for him as he died from AIDS in her home.