“Diana Williams has written an amazing book about her life’s often harrowing journey, her loves, her joys, her trials, and her decision to die with dignity at the time and place of her choosing. It’s a beautiful book, rich in humanity, wisdom, and humor. It is going to help a lot of people.”
Anne Lamott
About Traveling Solo
For three decades, Williams relentlessly pursued a cure for the symptoms that plagued her: grinding exhaustion, night sweats that drenched the sheets, brain fog that made her forget her own address, and throbbing headaches and chills that left her bedridden for days. Dozens of specialists diagnosed her with everything from multiple sclerosis to Lyme disease to toxic mold exposure and prescribed grueling, expensive, and ultimately, ineffective treatments.
Hope vanished with each failed therapy and her symptoms grew worse. Rather than face a life of increasing pain and disability, and after deep contemplation, Williams chose assisted dying at the Swiss nonprofit, Dignitas.
Traveling Solo raises questions millions of people ask, too often in silence: What makes life worth living? How much can one person bear? Most of all, should we afford humans the choice to end their lives on their own terms?
More than a chronicle of one woman’s battle with illness, this is also a story of a family coming to terms with a heartbreaking decision, as well as an ode to abiding friendship.
Published posthumously, Traveling Solo was written to inspire meaningful conversations and compassion for those who choose to die rather than endure continued suffering. It offers a candid portrait of the fragility of life and the preciousness of beauty when one’s days are numbered.
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About Diana Williams
Diana Williams was the founder and executive director of Prison to Employment Connection, a nonprofit organization that provides job readiness training at California’s San Quentin State Prison. She previously worked for more than twenty years in fundraising for organizations, including the Environmental Defense Fund and the Coral Reef Alliance.
Williams’s work stemmed from her profound interest in creating a more equitable and sustainable world. She held an M.A. in counseling psychology from Columbia University, was a certified life coach, and served as a hospice counselor at Marin General Hospital. Her greatest accomplishments, however, are her two daughters, who light up the world.
Praise for Traveling Solo
“It takes a lot of courage to live your life on your terms. Diana’s story is more than a portrait of one woman’s final days; it’s a raw and revealing look at the complexity of love, life, and death.”
Mel Robbins, New York Times bestselling author and host of the award-winning Mel Robbins Podcast
“An extraordinary, tender, and honest account of the profundity of meeting life and death.”
Rev. Joan Jiko Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center
“Traveling Solo is a candid exploration of a life of suffering and a planned death. Diana boldly lived life on her own terms—both in how she lived and in her decision of how to end it. This is a timely book as the issue of taking control of one’s final days is debated around the world.”
Diane Rehm, award-winning journalist, author of When My Time Comes, and host of the podcast On My Mind
“Brimming with acuity and uncommon beauty, Traveling Solo is a testament to the strength of the human spirit. It shows that surrender does not mean defeat: it means standing in the indomitable fullness of our power.”
Anita Hannig, author ofThe Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America
“The prose is precise and empathetic, describing physical sensations with clarity and proving observant on subjects ranging from the personal to the general, including with its descriptions of medical personnel and places. The result is an intimate account of chronic illness that advocates with conviction to give all people the right to die on their own terms.”
Michele Sharpe, Forward Reviews
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