Never Can Say Goodbye

“Never Can Say Goodbye is deliciously woven from threads of guidance, memory, and devotion to the sacred labor of holding space at the end of life. With clear-eyed tenderness and his signature storyteller’s grace, Darnell Lamont Walker makes the complex, often unseen work of the death doula accessible and deeply human. Through quiet moments and honest reflections, he offers not just insight, but presence—a reminder that death, too, deserves care, clarity, and compassion.”  — —Alua Arthur, Author of Briefly Perfectly Human “This master storyteller shares the lessons of loss that have found their way into his heart (and now these pages), offering us a captivating and wise guide to a good life and a good death. Anyone who seeks a rich life and accepts that we will all die should read Never Can Say Goodbye.” ? — —Dale G. Larson, PhD, J. Thomas and Kathleen L, McCarthy Professor, Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University; Author, The Helper’s Journey: Empathy, Compassion and the Challenge of Caring “Darnell Lamont Walker is a storyteller for the ages, weaving threads of life and death into a tapestry that reminds us of the beauty that's possible in our endings. Never Can Say Goodbye is the field guide for the walk we will all take, the must-have death resource for every human.”  — —Helen Bauer, BSN RN CHPN, End of Life Educator and Advocate, Host of The Heart of Hospice podcast, Owner of Hospice Navigation Services “Never Can Say Goodbye should be required reading for every single human being. With poetic precision and radical tenderness, Darnell Lamont Walker invites us into a sacred threshold where love and loss meet. This is a guidebook for the heart."" — —Justin Michael Williams, Grammy-nominated artist and author of Stay Woke ""A profoundly engaging and inspiring exploration of what it means to hold space and accompany people at the end of their lives. Walker expertly weaves together a remarkably beautiful blend of personal and professional narratives that remind us that we all have the capacity to be a death doula. These stories are tender, inspiring, and sometimes sprinkled with humor, always inviting us to show up compassionately with our full humanity for people facing the hardest days of their lives.""  — —Lisa Keefauver, author of Grief is a Sneaky Bitch “Never Can Say Goodbye is a loving and gentle reminder that as long as we’re breathing, we still have time to live our lives in the ways we’ve always wanted, making even the smallest pieces of our dreams come true, and creating something even better than what we’d imagined.”  — —Lisa Deaderick, columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune “In Never Can Say Goodbye, Darnell Lamont Walker assembles a cast of characters that could be easily you or me. Providing snapshots of their interactions with death while living or being no more, we catch glimpses of what it means to be human on the verge of transition and human bearing witness to that process."" — —Kwame Otu, Professor, Author of Amphibious Subjects