In this interview, Carla Malden speaks with candor and clarity about her experience of living through the debilitating disease and death of her husband and work partner.

You will hear how she learned the new language of medicine, how she coped with the reoccurrence of illness, and how she coped with the guilt of things said or not said. She shares the paradox of wanting things to be normal when they are so out of kilter, how therapy is useful for the entire family when a loved one is dying, and what it was like to bring her husband home to die. She describes her process of grieving over time, how writing helped with the grief, and how she coped with survivor’s guilt.

Her experience can help us all in breaking the 'habit" of someone close to us after they have died, as well as in supporting another who is going through deep grief.

Carla Malden has been a screenwriter and published author. She began her career as the assistant to renowned director Elia Kazan. With her husband and screen writing partner, Laurence Starkman, she co-wrote many screen plays and produced and wrote several award winning short films.  Along with her father, Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden, she co-authored his critically acclaimed memoir, When Do I Start? (Limelight Editions 2004) and she is the author of Afterimage, A Broken Hearted Memoir of a Charmed Life (Skirt! 2011).