David Richman is an author and an endurance athlete. His book is called Cycle of Lives and covers 15 different stories of people touched by Cancer — in many different ways — from patient, to caregiver, to medical provider, to spouse.

David was inspired to ride his bike 5,000 miles as he met and interviewed many impacted by Cancer. He did this in honor of his sister June, who’d recently died of brain cancer.

It was a courageous journey and he tapped into a lot of deep grief, but also powerful emotional connections.

His stories were intriguing, especially how each cancer journey impacts different people. David refers to trauma and emotional chaos, but the narratives also present the gifts and wisdom that may bubble up during the journey. In 2020, in the US alone, there were more than 1.8 mm new cancer cases and over 600k cancer deaths, so it’s an important topic to explore. I’m always deeply intrigued by how people cope with the most difficult events in their lives. This book was a rich dive into this.