One of the year's Top Ten Books on Religion and Spirituality (Booklist), Being Alive and Having to Die is the story of the remarkable public and private journey of Reverend Forrest Church, the scholar, activist, and preacher whose death became a way to celebrate life. 
Through his pulpit at the prestigious Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York, Reverend Forrest Church became a champion of liberal religion and a leading opponent of the religious right. An inspired preacher, a thoughtful theologian and an eloquent public intellectual, Church built a congregation committed to social service for people in need, while writing twenty five books, hosting a cable television program, and being featured in People, Esquire, New York Magazine, and on numerous national television and radio appearances. 
Being Alive and Having to Die works on two levels, as an examination of liberal religion during the past 30 years of conservative ascendancy, and as a fascinating personal story. Church grew up the son of Senator Frank Church of Idaho, famous for combating the Vietnam War in the 1960s and the CIA in the 1970s. Like many sons of powerful fathers, he rebelled and took a different path in life, which led him to his own prominence. Then, in 1991, at the height of his fame, he fell in love with a married parishioner and nearly lost his pulpit. Eventually, he regained his stature, overcame a long-secret alcoholism, wrote his best books–and found himself diagnosed with terminal cancer. His three year public journey toward death brought into focus the preciousness of life, not only for himself, but for his ministry. 
Based on extraordinary access to Church and over 200 interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, Dan Cryer bears witness to a full, fascinating, at time controversial life. Being Alive and Having to Die is an honest look at an imperfect man and his lasting influence on modern faith.

Being Alive and Having to Die: The Spiritual Odyssey of Forrest Church

Biographies & Memoirs

Cryer, Dan

Leaders & Notable People

St.Martin's Press

One of the year's Top Ten Books on Religion and Spirituality (Booklist), Being Alive and Having to Die is the story of the remarkable public and private journey of Reverend Forrest Church, the scholar, activist, and preacher whose death became a way to celebrate life. 
Through his pulpit at the prestigious Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York, Reverend Forrest Church became a champion of liberal religion and a leading opponent of the religious right. An inspired preacher, a thoughtful theologian and an eloquent public intellectual, Church built a congregation committed to social service for people in need, while writing twenty five books, hosting a cable television program, and being featured in People, Esquire, New York Magazine, and on numerous national television and radio appearances. 
Being Alive and Having to Die works on two levels, as an examination of liberal religion during the past 30 years of conservative ascendancy, and as a fascinating personal story. Church grew up the son of Senator Frank Church of Idaho, famous for combating the Vietnam War in the 1960s and the CIA in the 1970s. Like many sons of powerful fathers, he rebelled and took a different path in life, which led him to his own prominence. Then, in 1991, at the height of his fame, he fell in love with a married parishioner and nearly lost his pulpit. Eventually, he regained his stature, overcame a long-secret alcoholism, wrote his best books–and found himself diagnosed with terminal cancer. His three year public journey toward death brought into focus the preciousness of life, not only for himself, but for his ministry. 
Based on extraordinary access to Church and over 200 interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, Dan Cryer bears witness to a full, fascinating, at time controversial life. Being Alive and Having to Die is an honest look at an imperfect man and his lasting influence on modern faith.

St. Martin's: Griffin

When journalist Dan Cryer was just eight, his mother unexpectedly died. In their grief, he and his siblings shut out all memories of their beloved Pauline. In this haunting memoir, Cryer recreates his quest to discover this gentle mystery woman, her small-town midwestern milieu, and how this haunting absence has shaped his emotional life. "A lovely book: moving, textured, honest, tinged with love and regret and bewilderment and faith and gentle humor."--Poet and editor George Witte, author of Does She Have a Name? "Dan Cryer tells the story of his mother's death and the impact on the eight-year-old he was with steely precision and deep courage, yet with the lyricism of the esteemed writer he has been in a long career. It is a sad and elegiac story but also a haunting mystery tale--as Dan assembles letters, diaries, yearbooks and newspaper clippings to recreate a portrait of the woman he barely knew. Along the way, the reader will get a vivid, nuanced picture of daily life in a Midwestern town governed by the centrality of church, sports and the doctrine of 'niceness.' It's a work you will want to share with people you hold dear."--Joseph Berger, author of Displaced Persons: Growing Up American After the Holocaust "This intelligent and deeply moving memoir opens the door to a lost time and place, while evoking the mysteries of a mother-child bond lost and found."--Laura Pedersen, author of Buffalo Gal: A Memoir Dan Cryer, a former book critic at Newsday and Pulitzer Prize finalist, is the author of Being Alive and Having to Die: The Spiritual Odyssey of Forrest Church. He has contributed to The Salon.Com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors and Good Roots: Writers Reflect on Growing Up in Ohio, and to many publications, including The New Republic, Salon, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe.

Forgetting My Mother: A Blues from the Heartland

Memoirs

Parafine Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cryer, Dan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cryer, Dan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cryer, Dan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Being Alive and Having to Die: The Spiritual Odyssey of Forrest Church

Being Alive and Having to Die: The Spiritual Odyssey of Forrest Church

Forgetting My Mother: A Blues from the Heartland