I'm Still Here: A Memoir

Description

Martina Reaves weaves the story of her early life-coming of age in the 1960s, living and working in various small towns with her hippie husband, coming out in 1980, and eventually having a son with her life partner, Tanya-with that of her 2008 tongue cancer diagnosis, after which she fights to maintain hope even as she accepts that death might come.

Martina Reaves grew up in a Navy family and lived in thirty-four places before she finally settled in her current home in Berkeley with her wife, Tanya, and their son, Cooper, who now lives in Oakland. She considers living in one place for over thirty years a major accomplishment. A lawyer who hated practicing law, she became a mediator in 1986 and worked with divorcing couples and neighbors with disputes. In 2007, she dropped writing legal documents and began writing fiction and memoir, and she has been at it ever since. She loves creating serenity in her home, gardening, reading, going to plays, and that the music venue Freight and Salvage is five minutes from her home. She thinks eating is wonderful but cooking is boring.

2020 Living Now Book Awards Gold Winner in Grieving/Death & Dying 2021 IPPY Awards Bronze Winner in Autobiography/Memoir III (Personal Struggle/Health Issues) 2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Silver Medal in Non-Fiction: Health (Medical) 2020 Best Book Awards Finalist in Health: Cancer 2020 Best Book Awards Finalist in Health: Death & Dying "A story rich in emotional description..." -Kirkus Reviews "Martina's story is poignant, inspiring, and funny, and she tells it with a fresh voice, imbued with self-awareness and wisdom. . . . This memoir will catch and hold you with its resonance. It will also breeze you through so smoothly, you might well find yourself turning back to reread when you reach the last page." -Mollie Katzen, James Beard Hall of Fame laureate and author of the Moosewood Cookbook "Immediate, visceral, loaded with humor and insight, I'm Still Here is like an intimate conversation with a wonderful friend-it leaves you feeling enlightened, enriched, and a little happier than you were before. Savor this book and share it with people you love!" -David Schweidel, author of Milkweed National Fiction Prize winner Confidence of the Heart and coauthor of What Men Call Treasure