Tim Zoebelein, a clinical social worker for over thirty years, wrote this book out of a desire to help those who are facing the end of life. He spent twenty-three years at an Oregon hospice program in Portland, where he saw suffering and compassion; bravery while coping with overwhelming fear; and both abandonment and the coming together of family and friends. Tim’s background includes the Peace Corps and public school teaching; and today, he maintains a private practice specializing in end-of-life and bereavement counseling.

Tim currently lives in Forest Grove, Oregon with his wife of fifty years. His two adult children live in Oregon as well. Always filled with the need to make the most of what he has as a human being, outside his practice, Tim enjoys meditation, hiking, getting together with friends, pottery, travel and woodworking. 

The defining deaths in his life were the deaths of his father, who died when Tim was eighteen, his grandparents, his mother and friends. 

"I consider myself overwhelmingly fortunate throughout my life; even when the sorrows I’ve gone through have temporarily laid me low.