The Grief Book That Refuses to Be Sad: Why One Author Chose Awareness Over Happiness

The Grief Book That Refuses to Be Sad: Why One Author Chose Awareness Over Happiness

From Grief & Happiness by Emily Thiroux Threatt

May 26, 2026 · 39 min · Episode 432

About this episode

Lori Carlson-Hijuelos discusses her memoir 'A Writing Marriage' and how grief led her to awareness and meaning rather than happiness.

If you've ever wondered how grief can become a gateway to self-discovery, Episode 432 of the Grief and Happiness podcast is for you. Author Lori Carlson-Hijuelos shares the story behind A Writing Marriage — a memoir woven together with the final unfinished manuscript of her late husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Oscar Hijuelos. Through writing inside a cathedral, Lori finds not happiness in her grief, but something quieter and more powerful: awareness, meaning, and peace. In This Episode, You Will Learn: (01:21) Lori's early love of Spanish and her sense of divine calling (03:55) How a spontaneous walk into a building launched her entire career (05:50) Why imagination matters more than knowledge — and what's lost without it (07:38) A Writing Marriage: the memoir no editor had ever seen before (09:30) Writing inside a cathedral and the spiritual thread through her grief (11:39) Why she wrote a book meant to be a lifelong companion, not a one-time read (21:02) What STEM students can't do — and why literature is the unexpected fix (29:36) Two husbands, a move to Maui, and how the Grief and Happiness podcast was born (33:14) Why Lori doesn't chase happiness in grief — and what…

People in this episode

Host: Emily Thiroux Threatt

Guest: Lori Carlson-Hijuelos

Topics covered

  • grief
  • self-discovery
  • writing
  • literature
  • spirituality
  • memoir

Keywords

  • grief
  • self-discovery
  • memoir
  • literature
  • spirituality
  • Oscar Hijuelos
  • Lori Carlson-Hijuelos

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Americas Society

Books & works: A Writing Marriage

Places: Maui, New York City

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