The Last Goodbyes
CHRISTOPHER BUCKLE Y COPES WI TH THE LOSS OF BOTH PARENTS
MR. RIGH T Buckley at home with his dad in 1956.
ON MY
BOOKSHELF
DOLLY
PARTON
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
by DAVID
WROBLEWSKI
(Ecco)
“I loved it because
it was not only
about people, but
you really got
insight into dogs—
and I love dogs.”
Q&A
Q: You’d resolved not to write about the deaths of your
parents [conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. and
socialite Patricia Taylor Buckley, who died within a year of each other], but
then you wrote LosingMumandPup:AMemoir(Twelve). What happened?
A: It wasn’t planned at all. I just sat down and started writing. It sounds trite to
say, but there are books you want to write and others I guess you have to write.
This book fell into the latter category. It poured out of me.
Q: Did writing it help with your grief
A: There is an inherently healing aspect to writing a book like this. It was also
a way of spending extra time with my parents.
Q: You found a way to write about death that isn’t depressing.
A: Like finding out it costs $7,000 for cremation services? I didn’t immediately
think of parody, but flashing back on it, I found the humor. When your parents
die, you move closer to the river Styx, so my original title for the book was
You’re Next. Then I realized it’s kind of frightening.
Q: It’s been said that the relationship with one’s parents doesn’t end with
their loss, but it does change.
A: It never goes away, and they never go away. Your parents are your ultimate
protectors, and no matter what difficulties you’re having with them when
they’re alive, you can always pick up the phone and hear their voices. They
provide a certain level of comfort—just knowing they’re there. They’re like fire
extinguishers mounted on the wall behind glass. You know if it really comes to
it, you can break the glass. And now they’re gone. —Diane Brown
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:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY; ILLUSTRATION BY ZACH TRENHOLM
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