I’m a journalist working on a book titled “Parting Ways: The New Rituals of Dying, Death and Mourning in America.” The book grew out of a master’s thesis project I researched while working on my MS at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. I survived Samuel Freedman’s renowned book seminar at Columbia and now happy to say University of California Press will publish the book in 2008.
Have an attitude of “Joyful Entitlement” Sig Gissler, my wise professor at Columbia, used to say before we’d hit the icy streets of New York in search of a news story. Following his advice gained the warmest of welcomes in the most unexpected places. My background is in newspaper journalism, a great medium to serve an inexhaustible curiosity about people and subcultures. I’ve written mainly feature news stories and profiles for the Westside section of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. The transition from newspaper to writing narrative non-fiction for this book indulges a passion of mine to deepen the interviews and connections with my sources in an effort to reveal a larger story through their experiences rather than just reporting facts, quotes and statistics. I often throw on the hat of investigator, psychologist or sociologist while conducting my research. I have a BS in sociology and communication-journalism from California State University, Fullerton.
I’m a native Los Angelean of the coastal nature but I’ve lived in many zips codes in America and abroad in Paris. I backpacked around the world in 2003 with my then boyfriend, now husband Simon. When I’m not exploring new lands or people, I spend time on our sailboat cruising or scuba diving below the ocean surface.
If you want to reach me please do at denisecarson [at] gmail [dot] com
