Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's
Jan 2016 · Harmony
4.4star
16 reviewsreport
Ebook
336
Pages
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About this ebook
“A powerful portrait of Alzheimer’s…marked by strong emotions and often bleak honesty.”
—The Washington Post
“The vulnerability, courage, and honesty in Before I Forget are heart-opening. Fear can be paralyzing…yet B. and Dan beautifully demonstrate that there is a different way to approach this stealthy invader. Alzheimer’s needs to come out of the shadows, and this book is an important step.”
—Maria Shriver
Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient. She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks.
B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way.
At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.
—The Washington Post
“The vulnerability, courage, and honesty in Before I Forget are heart-opening. Fear can be paralyzing…yet B. and Dan beautifully demonstrate that there is a different way to approach this stealthy invader. Alzheimer’s needs to come out of the shadows, and this book is an important step.”
—Maria Shriver
Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient. She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks.
B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way.
At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.
Ratings and reviews
4.4
16 reviews
A Google user
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November 25, 2017
I picked this book up on a whim.... honestly had no clue who B.Smith was... but her husband is such an advocate for her and their life together despite the diagnosis. We are dealing with Alzheimer’s as well and this book was such an encouragement to me. There were so many things he referenced that I would stop and order this book or that resource and check out websites he recommended. Thank you Dan Gasby for sharing your struggles and love of your wife!
A Google user
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August 2, 2017
This is a great read. It's informative playful, and emotional too. You feel for B. and Dan as if you know them. In fact, I'm tempted to visit their restaurant in NY. I have already recommend this book to many people. It's an eye opener. Thank you B. and Dan for sharing this painful story.
1 person found this review helpful
Alfie
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April 18, 2016
Is as beautifully resilient, open and honest as B.Smith herself ! Thinking and praying for you both always... And remember, it's not the person in the fight but the fight in the person !!! Your fight to be a winner B.Smith started way before your battle with Alzheimer's... Sincerely, with all I have to all you are and will always be ....A WINNER !!!!!! ALFIE
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
B. Smith was a true American success story. Born in rural western Pennsylvania and faced with what would be, for most, insurmountable obstacles, Barbara “B.” Smith was one of the first supermodels. She wrote three highly acclaimed cookbooks, and over a 28-year period founded three successful restaurants, while also launching a nationally syndicated television show and a magazine. She was the first African-American woman with home products distributed exclusively at Bed Bath & Beyond. She was also a recipient of numerous national and local awards for helping those in need. B. Smith passed away in 2020, at age 70, from early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Dan Gasby has been a television media sales executive and a television producer for both network & syndicated programs. He helped publish and launch B.'s eponymous magazine and helped cofound her lifestyle retail brand.
Michael Shnayerson is a long-time contributing editor to Vanity Fair. He is also the author or co-author of six books, among them entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte's My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance. He has also published an unauthorized biography of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, The Contender.
Dan Gasby has been a television media sales executive and a television producer for both network & syndicated programs. He helped publish and launch B.'s eponymous magazine and helped cofound her lifestyle retail brand.
Michael Shnayerson is a long-time contributing editor to Vanity Fair. He is also the author or co-author of six books, among them entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte's My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance. He has also published an unauthorized biography of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, The Contender.
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