Affirming Life Through Organ Donation: A Mother's Story

March 31, 2004 -- "Thoughtful, honest and beautifully written, Swimming with Maya chronicles a remarkable friendship between a grieving mother and the man who is alive because her daughter's heart beats in his chest. This book grabs the reader, not only because of this extraordinary aspect, but also because of the parts that are common to all parents. It is, above all, a fabulous story about what it means to be a mother." -Wendy Lichtman, author of Blew and the Death of The Mag

"'Swimming with Maya: A Mother's Story' by Eleanor Vincent remembers loving and then losing a daughter, and learning to laugh again."
Publisher's Weekly

Dulles, VA: Right now, approximately 80,000 Americans are awaiting organ transplants. Eleanor Vincent, an award-winning writer and a popular speaker to organ donation organizations and groups across the country, illustrates the unique relationship between organ donors and the recipients of their gift in her upcoming book "Swimming with Maya: A Mother's Story."

"Swimming with Maya" is Eleanor Vincent's story of raising two daughters alone, overcoming the grief of one daughter's death, coming to the decision to use her daughter's organs, including skin and bones, to help others, and using friendships with her daughter's organ recipients as a healing device. In vivid language, Eleanor Vincent illuminates the kind of courage, creativity, faith, and sheer tenacity it takes to find one's balance after such an overwhelming blow.
   
John Ruark, MD, FACP, thanatologist and author of Dying Dignified, says, "'Swimming with Maya' blows the reader away with its clarity, its unstinting honesty, and the searing accuracy of its vision of the medical and emotional complexity surrounding the tragic death of a young woman. It will be valuable not only to those considering organ donation, but to any psychologically aware parent struggling with the illusion of control it so movingly describes. Highly recommended."

Eleanor Vincent is the recipient of a Woman of Promise Award from the Feminist Writers' Guild and a Mary Merrit Henry Award from Mills College, where she received her MFA in Creative Writing in 1995. Her articles have appeared in The San Francisco Examiner, The San Jose Mercury News, Five Fingers Reviews, The Sacramento Bee, and others. Her essays, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in a variety of anthologies, including The Santa Barbara Review, Across the Generations, and The Napa Review. Since her daughter's death in 1992, Ms. Vincent has become a national spokesperson about the healing impact of her decision to donate Maya's organs. Her appearances include a transplantation symposium at Stanford University, in-service transplantation seminars for nurses and doctors, and keynote speeches at donor recognition events. She received a Community Service Award from the California Transplant Donor Network for her work as a volunteer speaker on transplantation. She lives in Walnut Creek, CA.

Swimming with Maya:
A Mother's Story
Eleanor Vincent
March 2004 ISBN 1-931868-33-4 $26.95
5-1/2 x 8-1/2, Cloth, 320 pp.



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