Stewart crafts a beautifully devastating memoir honoring his late wife, Lynn Kotula, and their journey of navigating her terminal cancer…. In evocative, sometimes joyful prose, Stewart captures the intricacies of not just a losing battle with cancer, but also a love that must flex and adapt to the changing waters surrounding it. … From his unique description of Lynn’s treatment to his assessment of her state of mind, Stewart shares milestones passed and lessons learned, continuing his journals long after Lynn passes away. His emergence on the other side comes with hard-won grace and a profound appreciation for the gift of life, making this a remarkable odyssey of learning to “live fully in the shadow of death.”
– Publishers Weekly BookLife (Editor’s Pick)
Advance Praise for Carrying the Tiger
Tony Stewart delivers a moving memoir that explores love, loss, and resilience. What emerges is more than just an account of illness and grief; it’s a masterclass in facing life’s hardest moments with grace…. Some may find the barrage of medical details overwhelming, and others might struggle with Stewart’s candid exploration of navigating a new relationship while grieving, but you can’t help but appreciate his unwavering commitment to honesty. In fact, it’s that very same honesty that transforms a deeply personal catharsis into something surprisingly universal and accessible. … From the intimate details of his wife’s battle with stage IV lung cancer to his own path through grief, CARRYING THE TIGER… will resonate with anyone who has faced serious illness or the loss of a loved one.
– IndieReader
Tony Stewart’s Carrying the Tiger is a remarkably attuned rendering of his own and his wife’s experience of her receiving an immediately life-threatening cancer diagnosis, of their search for viable treatments, and of gaining and losing Time. The result includes intimate, detailed portraits, and a community of differing perspectives moving in synchrony toward a crescendo; a beautiful and very human love story which breathes an extraordinary generosity of spirit.
– David Newman, author of Talking with Doctors
The book is not about disease but about care and love, so that someone reading it might not fear the journey but find it miraculous, unexpected and enriching… Being able to accompany someone and hold their hand as they make their final journey is the gift, albeit a very painful one, but what could be more meaningful?
– Cara Hyson, Director of the Writing Center, St. George’s School
In Carrying the Tiger, Tony Stewart writes with unflinching honesty about love and loss at the deepest level. Being a caregiver is all-consuming, beautiful, and impossible, and Tony shares it all with the reader. The book is both devastating and hopeful as we accompany Tony through his wife's diagnosis and illness and his subsequent discovery that joy and grief can live hand in hand.
– Jessica Fein, author of Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes
A heart-wrenching cancer memoir… The author seamlessly weaves real-life scenes, emails, internet posts, and photographs from his life with Lynn into a varied and intimate narrative. He beautifully describes the couple’s unique relationship, highlighting details like Lynn’s rule that “every kiss had to be a real kiss: Your lips had to be alive.” [and] bravely shares his darkest thoughts, such as, “maybe it would be better if Lynn died sooner rather than later” and “I really missed being able to have sex the way we used to.”
– Kirkus Reviews
As an oncologist and cancer survivor myself, I was deeply moved by Tony Stewart’s Carrying the Tiger. Tony captures emotions and experiences that will be familiar to anyone who’s stood by a loved one facing a cancer diagnosis: the frustration of navigating our often-byzantine health care system, the agony of being betrayed by one’s body, and, for caregivers, feelings of sheer, overwhelming helplessness. But here, too, are quiet moments of joy and triumph; this is a work that will strengthen all who read it.
– Khalid Dar, MD, Oncologist, Mount Sinai Morningside
Your book helped me transition through the painful loss of my best friend and then my brother and his wife. I know it will touch many others in a profound way.
– Gail Dahl
Carrying the Tiger is an emotive, intimate memoir about ... coping with loss, finding a community, and seeking a happily ever after in the wake of grief.
– Foreword Clarion Reviews
Anyone in their own battle against this dreaded disease — whether as a patient or caregiver — will draw hope and inspiration from this account.
– BlueInk Review
