Author Description

Do not in. Please call the police. The words were written on a tiny piece of white paper, tacked to Daniel Jones' white, locked living room door. It was Valentine's Day, 1994, when Moira Farr discovered that the man she loved had killed himself. A man who had struggled to keep his deep depression at bay; a gifted writer; a fine, loving all described the young man who had taken his life using a method clearly outlined in the bestselling "self-help" book, Final Exit.Five years later, in an account that is both deeply personal and thoughtfully political, writer and editor Moira Farr reflects on Daniel's suicide and its consequences. After A Suicide Survivor's Tale is not a sensational tell-all, a self-help book on the grieving process, or an academic review of suicide theories. It is one woman's story -- beautifully, lyrically written -- of her own experiences and her realization that answers come both from within and from looking at suicide in a wider social context.In a narrative that moves gracefully between personal experience and a provocative analysis of suicide research, Moira Farr reveals how grief for survivors means conquering an obsession with the events leading up to the suicide, in order to leave behind the litany of "if onlys" and eventually heal from the trauma of the event. In a style as haunting as it is elegant, she reflects upon happier times, sharing a love story and a portrait of a man, who despite his demons, seemed to have everything to live for. She looks at the fascination with suicide that is widespread in contemporary popular culture, yet coupled with many myths and misconceptions, in rock music, film, television, and on the Internet. Shetalks to suicide survivors and visits the suicide archive in Calgary -- renowned as the best in the world -- and looks into the growing suicide-prevention movement.