“Jan's Story is about never forgetting what we once had and cherished… what we once had and lost.”
~ Katie Couric, Anchor-Managing Editor, CBS Evening News
“This is a love story, a travelogue, a television history…and a stunning, achingly personal journey. Dashing and fearless, nothing could stop Barry, the veteran war correspondent, until tragedy knocked him cold. This is the story of life, love, loss and renewal.”
~ Brian Williams, Anchor-Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News
“An intimate and courageously honest memoir about devastating loss, enduring love, and finding the strength to carry on, Jan's Story is a gift to other families dealing with younger onset Alzheimer's, not because their challenges and decisions will exactly mirror Barry's and Jan's, but because they will know that they're not alone.”
~ Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice
“I knew my long time CBS News colleague Barry Petersen, one of the best and most admired correspondents in the business, through his unforgettable coverage of important events in faraway places all over the world. In Jan's Story he uses all his writing and reporting skills to tell the story of what happened to shatter his own world. Now I understand better how vulnerable we all are to the most terrible kind of identity theft.”
~ Charles Osgood, Anchor, CBS News Sunday Morning
“No one who has ever been a caregiver, ever questions when another says, “I can't do it anymore.” Jan's Story is a must read by every caregiver, family member and well meaning friends.”
~ Meryl Comer, President, Geoffrey Beene Foundation, Alzheimer's Initiative
“Have the courage to read this book with an open heart and mind, talk about it, and interrupt the silence.”
~ Lisa Snyder, MSW, LCSW, Dir, Quality of Life Programs, UC-San Diego Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Ctr., author of Speaking Our Minds – What it's Like to Have Alzheimer's.
“Barry Petersen's utterly honest love story moved me to tears. With a reporter's eye for detail and a poet's insight, he poignantly shares his desperate attempt to care for the wife he adores. The book succeeds because he hides nothing.”
~ Jon LaPook, MD - Medical Correspondent, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine-Columbia University Medical Center
“I knew Jan and Barry from their days in Moscow, London and Asia. She was intelligent, talented, and gracious, always with a smile and with a wonderful sense of humor…as true as the blue of a Texas sky. Barry and Jan were slowly, excruciatingly lowered into a version of hell …and faced heartbreak with courage and Alzheimer's Disease with a will to survive.”
~ Dan Rather, Anchor, Dan Rather Reports, HDNet
“This story of immense love and the terrible loneliness of caregiving left me in tears. As Jan surrendered to the ravages of Alzheimer's, Barry cared for her as best he could. I know firsthand the demands of caregiving. When I was 12 years old, my father became terminally ill with leukemia. As the oldest and as a daughter, I helped my 34 year old mother. Caregivers like Barry often feel isolated, inadequate, and not knowing where to turn for help or how to share their feelings of despair with others. As America ages, many more of us will become caregivers, and millions will soon be making the same journey that Barry made with his beloved Jan. This book will give comfort to those already caregiving, and offer insight to the many who don't know today that this may be their life, and their story, tomorrow.”
~ Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady and President of the Board of Directors of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving at Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, GA
“Jan's Story will offer solace and support to others as they seek support systems while enduring the 24/7 agony of watching a life partner transformed into some “other,” who then gradually vanishes completely before one's very eyes.”
~ Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman Emeritus, National Medical and Scientific Advisory Council, Alzheimer's Association, Mount Sinai Chair in Alzheimer's Disease Research, Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry Mount Sinai School of Medicine
“This is one of the most honest portrayals of caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease I've read. This is not just a book about loss, it is a book about hope.”
~ Darby Morhardt, MSW, LCSW. Research Associate Professor and Director – Education, Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
“Read it for solace, read it for knowledge, but mostly read it so you know millions are also treading this difficult journey, too.”
~ Kathleen Kelly, Executive Director of the National Center on Caregiving, a program of the Family Caregiver Alliance, San Francisco, CA
“An intimate look into a man's life, caring for his beloved wife, and surviving the heart-wrenching ordeal imposed by The Disease. “
~ Mark Warner, Gerontologist, The Alzheimer's Daily News, author of The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing Your Home and In Search of the Alzheimer's Wanderer
“Jan's Story is a love story trapped in a travesty, but one from which we can all learn to heal our hearts.”
~ Newt Gingrich, Co-Chair of Alzheimer's Study Group and Founder of The Center for Health Transformation, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
“It is impossible to read this book without wanting to help fight this disease. As a laboratory scientist…it is easy to avoid confronting the personal loss experienced by the patient and family. There is no avoiding the personal effects of disease in Jan's Story.”
~ George A. Carlson, Ph.D., Director and Researcher, McLaughlin Research Institute, Great Falls, MT
“Barry's beautifully told love story of two healthy, vibrant, adventurous people is made more heartbreaking by the desolation caused when family and friends misjudged that Jan had been abandoned. Barry's story will help people understand how the brain can die very slowly while the body still looks healthy and, on some days, can appear normal.”
~ Elaine Jones, COO, Allen Institute for Brain Science