A
Fascinating Look at Death, Dying, and
Unexplained Phenomena
From
the Author of Dinner
with a Cannibal: The Complete History of Mankind’s Oldest
Taboo, honored by Choice magazine as one of its “Outstanding Academic Titles” of
2008
From dream research and global belief
systems to such unexplained phenomena as bright lights, prescient
dreams, near-death and out-of-body experiences, Passings delves into every aspect of
the end of life. Taking a scientific and anthropological approach,
Carole A. Travis-Henikoff looks at how other cultures deal with
death, how diverse kinds of death are treated differently, and how
belief systems set the tone for grieving.
In addition to the use of science and
anthropology, Travis-Henikoff includes both her own personal
experiences with the end of life as well as the stories of others who
help illustrate the striking realities of passing. Beginning with the
many deaths that occurred during Travis-Henikoff’s childhood, Passings moves into an up-close-and-personal look at the tragic
three-and-a-half-year period when Travis-Henikoff lost her father,
husband, grandmother, mother, and daughter.
By combining the personal, the
scientific, and the unexplained, Passings offers a comprehensive investigation into the end of life that allows
readers to both examine their own individual beliefs about the
subject and to gain a better understanding about how we as a species
cope with death and dying.
Carole
A. Travis-Henikoff is the
author of Dinner with a
Cannibal, which was honored
by Choice magazine as one of its “Outstanding Academic Titles” of
2008. As an independent scholar
specializing in paleoanthropology, she has worked with the Getty
Conservation team on the preservation of artifacts at the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo, Egypt, and participated in an archeological dig
alongside J. Desmond Clark, Tim White, Nicholas Toth, and Kathy
Schick under the auspices of the Institute of Human Origins. She sits
on the board of directors for the Stone Age Institute, and has given
lectures on paleoanthropology at Loyola University (Chicago) and Rush
University Medical Center (Chicago). She
divides her time between Chicago, Illinois, and Jackson Hole,
Wyoming.
Dr. Garniss H. Curtis is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geology & Geophysics
at the University of California, Berkeley and Founder of the Berkeley
Geochronology Center. He lives in Berkeley, California.
“Travis-Henikoff
opens up and shares with readers some of the most painful moments of
her life, involving the illnesses and deaths of loved ones. I found
her examples of pre-cognitive dreams, near death experiences and
phenomena that took place upon one’s passing from this life to
be compelling and unsettling. She also investigates these experiences
from a metaphysical angle, such as the light that so many people
claim to see in near-death experiences . Travis-Henikoff not only
explores the moment of death itself, but the events and processes
leading up to passing from this life. It’s definitely a
memorable read and I highly recommend the book.”
—Atlanta
Journal Constitution
“Carole
Travis-Henikoff’s fascinating story raises questions and
mysteries, the kinds of questions that modern science is often afraid
to acknowledge and the kinds of mysteries that both scare us and give
us hope. It is folly to ignore how many people have experiences like
those she describes.”
—Father
Andrew Greeley, priest, sociologist, journalist, and best-selling
author
“Passings is an important book and should be published for all of those who
struggle through the experience of death without anything to guide
them through the storms of conflicting emotions.”
—John
Allman, neuroscientist, Caltech, and an expert on primates,
cognition, and evolutionary neuroscience
“In Passings: Death, Dying, and
Unexplained Phenomena, a new
book by Carole A. Travis-Heinkoff, there are no answers and yet there
is completion. By using science and anthropology, the personal and
the unexplained, the author guides readers to examine their
individual beliefs and also understand how we, as a species, deal
with death and dying.”
—Orange
County Register
“Here
is the other side of cancer. I could see, for the first time, the
mates and caregivers of my leukemia patients. I had never paid them
any attention and so many of them were in worse shape than the
patient. I will never again treat only my patients. How could I not
have noticed? I put the book down and went over years of patients in
my head, recognizing which spouses had suffered while I stood blind.
Every doctor should read this book.”
—Harvey
Preisler, former Head of Oncology, Rush Medical University, Chicago
“You
have integrated incredible times of reality with experiences we have
yet to understand or replicate. And you have kept your head above the
waters. I have never read anything to match it.”
—Daniel
Buxhoeveden, brain evolution specialist and affiliated faculty member
of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of South
Carolina
“I
think your book is very important. The wealth of your extraordinary
experiences will help many.”
—Roger
Lewin, anthropologist and author of over 20 books, including Origins
Reconsidered, Bones
of Contention, and Principles of Human
Evolution
