Stardust to Stardust

Breathtaking in its range, riveting in its storyline and gripping in its honesty, Stardust to Stardust exemplifies how to live a deeply meaningful and connected life. Erik Olin Wright, in the last year of his life prematurely cut short by acute myeloid leukemia, wrote this public journal in which he shares his insights about life and love and many matters in between. This is a book that will enrich everyone's life! Erik's infectious curiosity, optimistic warmth, and deep-rooted kindness will touch the heart and mind of all who dip into its contents. -Richard J. Davidson, NY Times best-selling author of The Emotional Life of Your Brain, Founder and Director, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison Stardust to Stardust is a text about the love of life, the mind, and above all of the love of humanity. It is also one of the most courageous texts I have ever read about dying. Moving with stunning ease between keen sociological insights about hospitals, to the connection between love and emancipatory social science, to discovering how to be comfortable with vulnerability, this blog, written in a few months between the discovery of Erik Olin Wright's illness and his death, reflects a life of brilliance, generosity and love, and gifts us with lessons in both dying and living. -Raka Ray, Professor of Sociology and Dean of the Social Sciences at UC-Berkeley (and former student of Erik's) Erik Olin Wright was an extraordinarily kind mentor to his students, including me. But what stood out as he faced the end of his life was his courage and insight as he turned his analytical mind to himself and his own relationship to dying.The result is a deeply life-affirming take on death. -Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota