Richard Riordan Interviewed by Susan Whitmore My name is Dick Riordan , and my former wife, Genie, and I had five children—four daughters and a son. My son was killed in a scuba diving accident picking up shellfish to cook for his friends 21 years ago, and my daughter died of a heart attack when she was 19 about 19 years ago. My daughter’s name is Carol, and my son’s name is Billy. Billy loved to cook. So he would go out in the early mornings in a shallow bay and pick up shellfish to take home and cook for his friends. One morning 21 years ago, he went out in this bay, in about 15 or 20 feet of water, and he died there. Even so, we buried Billy at sea because he wanted to have his body recycled if anything ever happened to him. Of course, we never […]

Dr Jack Jordan Interviewed by Susan Whitmore Susan: You have co-authored three books on the subject of suicide: After Suicide Loss: Coping with Your Grief; Grief After Suicide: Understanding the Consequences and Caring for the Survivors; and the latest book coming this Fall, Devastating Losses: How Parents Cope With the Death of a Child to Suicide or Drugs. Why did you begin doing bereavement work in the first place? Dr. Jordon: I’ve been a grief counselor for most of my professional life and was then drawn to suicide survivors 15 years ago. I started as a family therapist and then got into grief and bereavement for several reasons. First, my father died of cancer when I was in my mid-20s, and that was a life changing experience. Also, when I was young, I thought of becoming a minister and was interested in spiritual issues. So that side of my personality was drawn to […]