Local author Fredricka Maister will be at the shop in conversation with Ian Marshall Fisher on the evening of May 6th to discuss and sign her debut book Three Times a Mourner: Personal Essays on Grief and Healing. Please RSVP below :)
About the Book
Fredricka R. Maister calls herself “a lifelong mourner.”
At twelve, she lost her father suddenly—and coped by not coping. Twenty-five years later, the brutal murder of her longtime partner shattered the emotional barriers she had built. Then came the slow decline of her mother, whose final years were spent in a nursing home.
Each loss brought its own kind of grief, shaped by the relationship, the circumstances, and the stage of life in which it occurred. In Three Times a Mourner, Maister, a seasoned essayist, reflects on these deeply personal experiences. With honesty and grace, she explores how grief evolves over time and how writing became part of her healing.
This is not a how-to guide or a set of steps for getting over loss. It’s a moving collection of essays about mourning, memory, and resilience—offering insight and connection to anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one.
Whether you’re grieving now or living with a sorrow from long ago, Three Times a Mourner is a companion through the difficult terrain of loss—and a reminder that healing, though never simple, is always possible.
About the Author
Fredricka R. Maister is a Philadelphia-based writer whose personal essays and articles explore the full spectrum of human experience—from the mundane to the offbeat, the shocking to the life-changing.
Her work has appeared in a range of publications, including The Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, New York Jewish Week/The Times of Israel, Jewish Exponent, HuffPost, Broad Street Review, The Writer, Brevity Blog, and The Manifest Station, among others. Three Times a Mourner: Personal Essays on Grief and Healing is her first book.
Fredricka Maister's friend, Ian Marshall Fisher is a London-born director and producer. A former musician, actor, and singer who worked in the West End, regional theatre, and television, he is now best known for his "Lost Musicals" series which he established in 1989. Working with the Library of Congress, British Library, Yale University, and New York's Performing Arts Library, he researches and showcases the lesser known and neglected works by America's finest composers and writers of musicals circa 1930-1955.