Searching for Gilead is a chronicle of love, laughter, and loss. Over the span of three and a half decades, the members of the Compton and Fischer families have seen the world change, both in and out of their homes. Linked initially by the love affair of two of the sons, Jonathan and Tom, the families' relationships evolve into an intriguing web. The novel traces the connections between the two families over three and a half decades. Like many families, not everything is as it seems on the surface. Relationships among the family members brought together by the young men's love are tested over differing perspectives on bigger issues, such as the place of religion in people's lives and in the world, injustice in global affairs, the joy and pain of love, threats to the environment, the role of the arts, and, ultimately, that most human of experiences, the death of loved ones. Witty, comical, poignant, and shocking by turns, the story traverses the globe from Toronto to Venice, from New York to Nairobi, and from Geneva to Marrakech. In the end, the journeys of these people, as individuals and as a family, go beyond the simply geographic.

It was August 7, 2009, when the doctor stood at the foot of the hospital bed and with a deliberation that was both efficient and compassionate, looked directly at David Hallman and his partner Bill Conklin and said, ""Our diagnosis is pancreatic cancer, stage four."" In his thoughtful and deeply personal memoir, David Hallman narrates the sixteen days after Bill was diagnosed with terminal cancer and intersperses vignettes drawn from their thirty-three years together as a gay couple.

With poignancy, humor, and affection, David describes the excruciating intensity of caring for Bill during those final two weeks while reminiscing about the joys and challenges of their life together. During their lengthy relationship, both were deeply committed to social and environmental justice, loved the arts and traveling, and embraced faith and spirituality-values that were never more important to them than during the final days of Bill's life. As David sat at Bill's bedside, he shares how the memories of their great love provided him strength and helped him prepare Bill for the end.

"August Farewell" offers an intimate portrait of a loving relationship brought to an abrupt end and affirms the power of love in the face of adversity.

"Searching for Gilead" is a chronicle of love, laughter, and loss. Over the span of three and a half decades, the members of the Compton and Fischer families have seen the world change, both in and out of their homes. Linked initially by the love affair of two of the sons, Jonathan and Tom, the families' relationships evolve into an intriguing web. The novel traces the connections between the two families over three and a half decades. Like many families, not everything is as it seems on the surface. Relationships among the family members brought together by the young men's love are tested over differing perspectives on bigger issues, such as the place of religion in people's lives and in the world, injustice in global affairs, the joy and pain of love, threats to the environment, the role of the arts, and, ultimately, that most human of experiences, the death of loved ones. Witty, comical, poignant, and shocking by turns, the story traverses the globe from Toronto to Venice, from New York to Nairobi, and from Geneva to Marrakech. In the end, the journeys of these people, as individuals and as a family, go beyond the simply geographic.

It was August 7, 2009, when the doctor stood at the foot of the hospital bed and with a deliberation that was both efficient and compassionate, looked directly at David Hallman and his partner Bill Conklin and said, ""Our diagnosis is pancreatic cancer, stage four."" In his thoughtful and deeply personal memoir, David Hallman narrates the sixteen days after Bill was diagnosed with terminal cancer and intersperses vignettes drawn from their thirty-three years together as a gay couple.

With poignancy, humor, and affection, David describes the excruciating intensity of caring for Bill during those final two weeks while reminiscing about the joys and challenges of their life together. During their lengthy relationship, both were deeply committed to social and environmental justice, loved the arts and traveling, and embraced faith and spirituality-values that were never more important to them than during the final days of Bill's life. As David sat at Bill's bedside, he shares how the memories of their great love provided him strength and helped him prepare Bill for the end.

"August Farewell" offers an intimate portrait of a loving relationship brought to an abrupt end and affirms the power of love in the face of adversity.