Letters To Sam
A Grandfather's Lessons On Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life
By Daniel Gottlieb
Review by C.S. Clarke, Ph.D.

This touching (but not sentimental) book is a series of letters from a grandfather to a grandson, each of whom has a disability.  What makes the book so moving is that the writer, a psychotherapist for many years, is able to express himself with such completely open emotional honesty and to tell the hard truths about himself.  He wants to do more than simply share the valuable lessons he has learned while living through his own pain, loss and disability.  He wants his grandson to remember that life is full of potential love and joy and that working through the inevitable challenges he will face will serve to bring him even greater love and joy.  

But there is much more here.  The letters cover hard-won and profound insights into many questions we all ask ourselves about the unrealistic expectations and dissapointments we find in life.  Insights about how we interpret and misinterpret events and the actions of others.  Insights about what is valuable and what is distraction. Insights about hope, acceptance and compassion.

The book takes a short time to read.  It has taken a lifetime for Daniel Gottlieb to learn the wisdom he writes.  He shares his words with his grandson and with us in hopes that we may assimilate his lessons in a much shorter and easier time than it took him.

About the author: Daniel Gottlieb, a practicing psychologist and family therapist, is the host of "Voices in the Family" on WHYY, Philadelphia's National Public Radio affiliate. A columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, he is author of two books, including a collection of his columns entitled Voices of Conflict; Voices of Healing. He is the father of two daughters, and Sam is his only grandson. The author's royalties will benefit Cure Autism Now and other children's health organizations.