Judy Lipson is the sole survivor of three sisters, losing her sister Jane in 1981 at age twenty-two in an automobile accident, and nine years later her sister Margie at age thirty- five after a twenty-year battle with anorexia and bulimia.

For thirty years Judy suppressed her grief and in 2011 founded Celebration of Sisters, an annual ice-skating fundraiser to commemorate the lives and memories of her beloved sisters Margie and Jane to benefit Massachusetts General Hospital.

Skating is a sport the Lipson sisters shared and brought Judy full circle back to her sisters.

Judy Lipson published articles for The Open to Hope Foundation, The Centering Organization, Grief Healing, and Love and Loss. Massachusetts General Hospital and SKATING Magazine featured pieces on Judy’s philanthropic work. Judy has appeared as a guest on The Open To Hope, The Morning Glory, Surviving Sibling Loss, Where’s The Grief, Good Grief and U.S. Figure Skating Voices From The Ice Podcasts. She presented at The Compassionate Friends National Conference and will be a keynote speaker at The Bereaved Parents USA Conference in 2023.

Her passion for figure skating secured the recipient of U.S. Figure Skating Association 2020 Get Up Award.

Judy’s memoir, Celebration of Sisters: It Is Never Too Late To Grieve, was released November 2021 by WriteLife Publishing.

Mark is a follower of Jesus Christ, husband, dad, published author, writer, artist, warrior, mountain biker, and a cowboy. He was born, raised and still lives in the Pacific Northwest. He feels most at home exploring the wild and wide-open places. He currently offers support and coaching to others who are struggling with grief. He is the founder of the Job 2:13 Project. Its mission is to come alongside others who are grieving and sit in silence before helping them to stand again. He enjoys horses, mountain biking, the outdoors, and spending time with his family.

His memoir 𝐂𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐫𝐲 was published in August. In the book he tells the story of his grief during the illness and following the death of his young wife in 1993 after 5 ½ years of marriage. He has appeared on several podcasts and has poems published in various anthologies under the pen name Mark Wayne.

He is currently focused on several writing projects and creating resources about faith, love, healing, grief, and life after painful experiences. He believes in the ripple effect– touch one life and you may touch the world– for to share the journey, however brief, is a wonderful gift. His wish is to share the joys, the sorrows, the hope, and healing to inspire others to live fully despite the grief we all carry because there is a life after…

Website: https://www.markschutter.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grief.to.greatness/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.schutter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkWayneAuthor/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwayneauthor/

On the Share Your Story podcast today I have with me Victoria Noe, an award-winning author, speaker and activist. Her Friend Grief series - the result of a promise she made to a dying friend - recognizes the importance of friendships in shaping our lives. Noe’s long-time HIV/AIDS activism led her to write Fag Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Community, the groundbreaking book that honors the women who changed the course of the epidemic.

An accomplished public speaker, she has presented at organizations such as ACT UP/London, Mt. Sinai Hospital, the Muse and the Marketplace, BookExpo America, and Open Hand/San Francisco as well as libraries and bookstores in New York and the Midwest. During the pandemic she has led workshops and online writing groups focusing on friend grief. Noe’s newest book, What Our Friends Left Behind: Grief and Laughter in a Pandemic about people who have lost a friend during the pandemic, was recently published in June, 2023.

Her website is the best place to find her: victorianoe.com. You will find her books are all there, as well as social media links - Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn - and you can sign up for her monthly newsletter as well to keep up to date.