Debut author Clare Simons thought that Death & Dying was her Jeopardy category. Standing on the front line of a historic legal battle as the press liaison for the terminally ill patients who successfully defended the Oregon Death With Dignity Act against federal attack at the U.S. Supreme Court gave Simons a unique perspective. Devoted to the teachings of Hinduism and the guru Mata Amritanandamayi Amma, the Hugging Saint, Simons saw the burning of bodies on the Ganges, which is why one of the chapters in To Be Here Is Immense is entitled “Wake Up & Die.”

“It was an honor to be the gatekeeper to the stories of the dying patients, whose final words allayed the fears of our mortality-phobic culture,” said Simons. “These brave souls understood what it means to be fully present until the very last breath.”

Simon’s late husband, Scott Rice, a small business owner in Beaverton, was a declarant in the case Oregon v. Ashcroft and a spokesperson for the state’s landmark aid-in-dying law. His testimony in The Survivors Brief and firsthand account of his late wife’s choice to access the law influenced a positive outcome in the five-year litigation.

Endorsed by Compassion & Choices, a national non-profit working to improve patient autonomy and individual choice at the end of life. “Clare Simons is a former Compassion & Choices staff member, journalist, and advocate whose work has focused on end-of-life choice, including communications during the defense of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act before the U.S. Supreme Court. This is her debut book.

"Clare’s search was propelled by some of the most transformative political messages of our time. Her behind-the-scenes narrative is more compelling than anything in front of the camera could ever be.” —Barbara Coombs Lee, President Emerita & Senior Advisor, Compassion & Choices; author of Finish Strong: Putting Your Priorities First at the End of Life.

Kirkus Review, the publishing industry standard, calls To Be Here Is Immense: “A wryly self-aware story of truth-seeking that becomes darkly gripping in its final pages. Simons' narrative voice is utterly charming…and regardless of one's politics or philosophy, comes to feel, by the end, like a conversational, well-informed friend.”

Spirituality & Practice, “Highly Recommends” the book as “Culturally smart, often hilarious, and full of heart. Somehow Simons is able to weave stories of serious public policy, life and death, but also sex. ”

To Be Here Is Immense, part passionate love story, spiritual adventure, and razor-sharp memoir, follows one woman's relentless search for meaning and late-in-life marriage to a great man. Together, they move through worlds of activism in Portland to pilgrimages across India’s sacred geography, until his sudden and mysterious death. How to live another day becomes Simon’s reason for being. Asking herself, how did I get here? begins the unraveling of a lifelong spiritual practice.

BOOKSTORE EVENTS

9/8 Annie Blooms Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR 97219, 7:00-8:00 pm

9/13 New Renaissance, 1338 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210, 3:30-4:30 pm

9/19 Bold Books & Coffee, 1755 SW Jefferson St, Portland, OR 97205, 7:00-8:00 PM

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