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Nobody Ever Dies When I'm Around: a lifetime of feeling left out.
Plato says that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” I say, "I know you will enjoy Jane Baker's 'Plato approved' self-examination and journey through her full, challenging, love-filled life. Jane is one of the funniest and most deeply feeling gals I know. You will laugh, you will cry, and you may feel it’s time to begin examining your life in much the same way.
~Monica Horan
"Jane Baker made me cry. I first came to know Jane while reading her script The Parker Tribe. I was choked with emotion by the end of the first page. She has power and beauty, strength and empathy, wisdom and courage. If you like that sort of stuff, being touched and in touch with humanity, you will love spending time with Jane"
David Koechner
In 2002 my mother passed away. I realized then how little I knew about her life before we seven children came along. I had been focused on remembering the highs and lows of my life, but my mother shared very little. Not wanting to leave my children lacking for backstory on their mom, I decided to write about my childhood as a record for them. As often happens, life got busy and my writing fell to the side for a bit. In 2006 my eldest son, Sam, was diagnosed with stage 3b Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had read that one of my favorite authors, Roald Dahl, wrote James and the Giant Peach while he attended to his son after a terrible car accident. It was then that I returned to writing about my youth, more this time to keep my sanity through Sam’s treatment and to keep Sam laughing. No one who has heard about my childhood has had an easy time believing me. I think the saying is “True dysfunction is stranger than fictitious dysfunction.” Something like that.
Spoiler Alert: my son is fine, healthy, and happy, and what came from my writing is what you have before you. I always felt that at the heart our family was very much like the Walton’s, if the Walton’s had a lot of dysfunction and humor was their only coping mechanism. I think you will feel the same!
It’s in the memories and the writing about them that I see how many different roles I have played in my life. Sometimes I’ve been the hero, sometimes the asswipe, usually somewhere in between. These roles have been in tragedies, comedies, farces, and mysteries, and the roles have been varied. Daughter, Sister, Cousin, Aunt, Friend, Girlfriend, Mom, Director, Teacher, Cancer Mom, Employee. If my life were my acting resume, I’d be pretty accomplished. The result of all my memorizing and analyzing and dwelling is what is written here. These are my memories and my thoughts, as disturbing as they may be. Enjoy.
~Monica Horan
"Jane Baker made me cry. I first came to know Jane while reading her script The Parker Tribe. I was choked with emotion by the end of the first page. She has power and beauty, strength and empathy, wisdom and courage. If you like that sort of stuff, being touched and in touch with humanity, you will love spending time with Jane"
David Koechner
In 2002 my mother passed away. I realized then how little I knew about her life before we seven children came along. I had been focused on remembering the highs and lows of my life, but my mother shared very little. Not wanting to leave my children lacking for backstory on their mom, I decided to write about my childhood as a record for them. As often happens, life got busy and my writing fell to the side for a bit. In 2006 my eldest son, Sam, was diagnosed with stage 3b Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had read that one of my favorite authors, Roald Dahl, wrote James and the Giant Peach while he attended to his son after a terrible car accident. It was then that I returned to writing about my youth, more this time to keep my sanity through Sam’s treatment and to keep Sam laughing. No one who has heard about my childhood has had an easy time believing me. I think the saying is “True dysfunction is stranger than fictitious dysfunction.” Something like that.
Spoiler Alert: my son is fine, healthy, and happy, and what came from my writing is what you have before you. I always felt that at the heart our family was very much like the Walton’s, if the Walton’s had a lot of dysfunction and humor was their only coping mechanism. I think you will feel the same!
It’s in the memories and the writing about them that I see how many different roles I have played in my life. Sometimes I’ve been the hero, sometimes the asswipe, usually somewhere in between. These roles have been in tragedies, comedies, farces, and mysteries, and the roles have been varied. Daughter, Sister, Cousin, Aunt, Friend, Girlfriend, Mom, Director, Teacher, Cancer Mom, Employee. If my life were my acting resume, I’d be pretty accomplished. The result of all my memorizing and analyzing and dwelling is what is written here. These are my memories and my thoughts, as disturbing as they may be. Enjoy.
Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2016
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 7, 2019
Great read
Loved this book. I lived in the same area, for 13 years. Glad you were able to be you, and find love and happiness. All people deserve love and respect, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Loved this book. I lived in the same area, for 13 years. Glad you were able to be you, and find love and happiness. All people deserve love and respect, regardless of their sexual orientation.
April 1, 2021
A pleasantly surprising find
I wasn't looking for this book and I didn't even know it existed. However, I'm really happy that I saw the title and took the chance because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jane is refreshingly honest and a great story teller! I was sad when it ended because I wanted more.
I wasn't looking for this book and I didn't even know it existed. However, I'm really happy that I saw the title and took the chance because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jane is refreshingly honest and a great story teller! I was sad when it ended because I wanted more.
September 16, 2018
Jane Baker has a way of telling a poignantly sad story on a way that has you hiccuping with laughter through your tears. She tells the story of growing up as a girl in a family of boys in suburban Philadelphia. They’re Catholic, loud, boisterous, and -did I mention two of her brothers were dying of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy? Yup, that’s a part of the story that sometimes takes center stage and sometimes is just “part of life”.
When Jane gets yelled at by a nun for not completing her homework and she tells Sister Whatsherface that she’s been playing cards with her brother because “he’s dying and that’s all he wants to do”, she’s called a liar by the nun and her parents are called to the school. Her dad, doing the classic “what’d you do now, kiddo.” moment, takes a breath when the nun tells about Jane’s “lies”. Her dad tells her to go back to class and she leaves the office and stands outside the door listening as her father gives the nun the verbal tongue-lashing she so richly deserves. Jane never had to do homework the rest of the year. That tragicomedy is told so well, it can only be told by someone who’s lived it.
A pilot for TV was made from this book starring David Koechner and Paula Pell called “The Parker Tribe”. Read the book. You won’t regret it.
When Jane gets yelled at by a nun for not completing her homework and she tells Sister Whatsherface that she’s been playing cards with her brother because “he’s dying and that’s all he wants to do”, she’s called a liar by the nun and her parents are called to the school. Her dad, doing the classic “what’d you do now, kiddo.” moment, takes a breath when the nun tells about Jane’s “lies”. Her dad tells her to go back to class and she leaves the office and stands outside the door listening as her father gives the nun the verbal tongue-lashing she so richly deserves. Jane never had to do homework the rest of the year. That tragicomedy is told so well, it can only be told by someone who’s lived it.
A pilot for TV was made from this book starring David Koechner and Paula Pell called “The Parker Tribe”. Read the book. You won’t regret it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2016
Honest
Even though the book started a little slow for me it ended with me feeling all warm and fuzzy. Stayed up almost 5 AM so I could change the book. I think I would recommend this book to my daughter both of them actually . Maybe even to my son
Even though the book started a little slow for me it ended with me feeling all warm and fuzzy. Stayed up almost 5 AM so I could change the book. I think I would recommend this book to my daughter both of them actually . Maybe even to my son
June 30, 2016
A sweet collection of stories describing growing up in a house full of love, loss and laughs. The author's journey through her coming out, navigating young adulthood, and finally being a mom was one that I really enjoyed.
May 10, 2016
Excellent memoir. Funny and heartwarming.
Loved the stories of the author's childhood and was very moved by her stories of raising her children. This book is a great read.
Loved the stories of the author's childhood and was very moved by her stories of raising her children. This book is a great read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews