Helen Steiner Rice-The Healing Tough: Poems, Letters, and Life Stories

Helen Steiner Rice's life could probably be summed up in the fact that she always met every circumstance with a grateful heart, trusting that God worked out all things for the best. Pollitt and Wiltse draw upon Rice's poems, letters and anecdotes to tell the poet's life story. Rice bore many adversities in her life, including the suicide of her young husband and a painful degenerative disease that led to her infirmity. Yet, as the authors demonstrate, Rice met these adversities with an enduring confidence in God's love and providence, and such attitudes are abundant in her poetry and letters. In addition to recounting Rice's biography, the authors also include testimonies of those influenced by her life and work. The book is divided into six sections dealing with healing the pain of loss, adversity, loneliness, depression, disability and infirmity. In each section, Rice's elegant poetry acts as a light shining through the darkness of pain. While some readers may find the book saccharine, Rice's fans will flock to it. (June)