"Everybody who undergoes a death and finds themselves grieving is obsessed with — or maybe overly focused on — the idea that they can’t display self-pity, they have to be strong. Actually there are a lot of reasons why you are going to feel sorry for yourself, but that’s your first concern."

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Source: National Book Award. The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 3, 2006.

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Joan Didion

Author, Essayist

Joan Didion was an influential American writer known for her incisive essays and novels that explore themes of memory, identity, and societal change.

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