One Last Wave

Remembering the impact of a generous soul on so many who grieve—including me. Also: Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman, MD, book news, and we're off to save more families, more hearts ♥️.

Hello and welcome to all my recent subscribers. Come on in, have a look around, check out some of my previous posts, and let’s get to know each other. Maybe you found me through a social media post or a Substack recommendation, and I’m thrilled you’re here! Maybe you agreed to be on the launch team for my forthcoming memoir, The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared, and if I haven’t said it enough, I’m beyond grateful for your support.

News of the Day

When this newsletter lands in your inbox, we’ll be in San Antonio, TX, on our way through Austin to land in Dallas at the 2024 Family Heart Global Summit. You can count on photos and more in the October newsletter.

As you probably know by now, my husband Kevin and I are Ambassadors for the Family Heart Foundation and do all we can to spread the word about familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and elevated Lp(a). Learn more about these common, treatable, yet vastly underdiagnosed disorders here and here.

Or send me a message. One of my favorite things to do is connect one-on-one with folks who are dealing with these genetic disorders in their families.

In writing news: Last month, Next Avenue published this piece I’ve been thinking about (and working on) for a few years now. Though it doesn’t reference the book directly, it's a nice companion piece to the story I tell in The Full Catastrophe, and as always, it was gratifying to see it in print. I hope you’ll check it out.

“The Perks of Being a Late Bloomer, “ Next Avenue, August 7, 2024

In book news: This month I opened a box of printed Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) of The Full Catastrophe (ones I’d ordered to send to trade reviewers who require them). Here’s a fun little look at how this was for me (and of course I never miss an opportunity to support my writing besties).

Looking Back to Look Ahead

This month, I’m pleased to share the inspiration that is One Last Wave Project with all of you.

I can’t believe I’ve kept this incredible project under my hat for so long. Maybe it’s taken me this much time to process all of it, how remarkable a human being Dan Fischer is, how his devotion to providing comfort to those who have lost a person they can’t live without has comforted so many. How it deeply comforted me.

From the website:

After experiencing the devastating loss of his father and best friend, Dan Fischer turned to surfing to cope with his grief and heal through the transformative power of the ocean…He decided to throw out an open invitation on social media to others who may be struggling with loss during covid's very isolating time. He invited them to share the stories and names of loved ones who they'd lost and promised to bring them back to the place that meant so much to them.

These special boards, now beacons of hope, ensure that every loved one's story is told in order to help the families find healing and community through the One Last Wave Project. What began as a simple gesture has turned into a global movement and supportive community that has been helping bring peace to families all around the world.

And here’s my story:

One day in 2022, I saw an Instagram post from Dan—a young man who clearly loves the thrill of adventure and even danger, as my son Eric did— about this fledgling project. He’d already completed Board 1, but I knew from the moment I saw this that Eric’s name needed to be included on a board so that he, along with hundreds of others who had passed, could take “one last ride.”

When Dan and his project were featured on CNN, I wrote him, including photos of Eric in action—on his snowboard, tubing on the lake, walking off the soccer field.

He replied quickly: “Your son will be added to the third board once we get that underway shortly. I am deeply sorry for your losses and I hope this helps in some small way. Please follow our instagram for updates on when that board will be ready Much love to you and thank you for helping share the project!”

And so it was. Here’s the video Dan posted to the One Last Wave instagram page of the board Eric’s name appears on, another as he wrote each name on the board (noting that it also includes the names of those lost at the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, TX), and a third, as he took those who are remembered on Board 3 on one last ride.

Here’s a photo of the board and a closeup of Eric’s name on the board itself.

As of this writing, Dan has completed Board 8. I’m actually teary as I write this, thinking all the comfort and peace he’s brought to so many of us who grieve.

And finally, this:

Yet another way to carry Eric with us (modeled by Kevin, of course…💙).

Inspiration Everywhere

It’s been a little over five months since Mimi Zieman MD’s memoir, Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor’s Unlikely Journey entered the world.

Here’s a summary:

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part gripping adventure, is a true-survival story of a young medical student who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet. The team attempts a new route up the East Face without the use of supplemental oxygen, Sherpa support, or chance for rescue. When three climbers disappear during their summit attempt, Zieman reaches the knife-edge of her limits and digs deeply to fight for the climbers’ lives and to find her voice.

Weaving her childhood as the daughter of immigrants raised in N.Y.C. with a reverence for nature, Zieman captures the curiosity and awe of a young woman as she faces down messages to stay small and safe as she ventures into the unknown.

Check out this cover! Climbing Everest wasn’t challenge enough—Mimi packed her tie-dyed tights and tap shoes, then put her own stamp on an experience few of us can only imagine!

Mimi and I first met in early 2020, just as COVID-19 was closing down our world. But though it seemed as if our lives were suddenly becoming smaller, when another writer put out a call on social media for memoirists interesting in starting a writing group, my world expanded. Soon I was counting women who lived in various locations around the country as dear friends. As I’ve mentioned earlier, a writer or two came and went over time, but we ended up with a group of four we aptly refer to as Writer’s Tears.

I’ve spent time in person with Mimi since then—twice at HippoCamp, during a weeklong stay at Writers in Paradise at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL, at my house, and most recently at her home in Atlanta for her fabulous, well-attended book launch party at a local REI store. I’m here to tell you that if you think she’s too accomplished to be true—there are no smoke and mirrors here. Mimi is the real deal.

But let’s talk about this book. Interested in adventure and mountaineering? In taking risks? In coming-of-age stories? In Judaism? In learning what it was like to grow up the daughter of an accomplished man who was the only survivor in his family of the Holocaust? Or maybe what intrigues you is how we break out of the boxes we feel placed in—by family, by the culture, by expectations that originate outside ourselves—and become our truest selves?

Then Tap Dancing on Everest is for you. Beautifully written, with the most lyrical and moving descriptions of the mountains’ splendor and danger, it’s a story that’s hard to put down and even harder to forget. You won’t want to miss this.

Here’s what I had to say about TDOE in my Amazon review:

Written in the clear, engaging prose that makes this book a page-turner, Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor’s Unlikely Adventure will make you think deeply about how a combination of our family’s history and our own desires impact who we become. Mimi Zieman writes honestly about so much more than her role as the only woman and doctor (while still a medical student) on a dangerous ascent of the world’s highest mountain. Long before the peaks of Everest were on her radar, Mimi, whose father was the only survivor of the Holocaust in his own family, searched for ways to break out of the boxes she felt she’d been placed in by parents understandably focused on her safety. Though she’d hoped to become a professional dancer, she chose medicine, the clearer route to success and stability. Still, the mountains, where she felt most free, called to her. Tap Dancing on Everest shows us how writing with deep vulnerability can result in a masterpiece like this one.

IF YOU’RE ON THE LAUNCH TEAM: Digital ARCs went out in July. If you didn’t find one in your inbox, or if you haven’t received launch team updates, please let me know right away, and I’ll resend.

I’ve been blown away by the emails and messages from folks who have read the book, and now by the 70 and counting Goodreads reviews. I’ll share some of these on social media and in future newsletters.

Thank you seems woefully inadequate. Still, thank you. 🩷

That’s all for now. Thank you so much, each of you, for reading this far, for sharing, and for joining this growing community of folks who believe in the importance of educating and supporting and sometimes holding each other up through all life throws our way.

As the sticker on my car’s rear window proclaims, “You Matter.”

• If you’re a launch team member, please remember to click “want to read” on Goodreads and post a review when you’re finished reading. Both are so important for helping new readers find my book. I’ll share the link for preorders here and in a launch team email when it’s available. There will be bonuses!

• Though I haven’t discussed FH or elevated Lp(a) this time around, don’t worry, I’ll be writing about that again soon. For now—if your LDL-C cholesterol is over 190, doesn’t change with lifestyle modifications, and you have a family history of early heart events, you could have FH. And ask your physician to test your Lp(a) (say it: “L-P-little a”), since it’s elevated in 1 in 5 individuals yet is hardly ever checked. Feel free to get in touch—I’m happy to chat with you and point you in the right direction to get the information you need.

• Check out Mimi Zieman’s beautiful memoir, Tap Dancing on Everest. You can thank me later. 😉

Till next time,

Casey