Doris Ober

Selected Work

Memoir
The Dogtown Chronicles, Our Life and Times with Sheep, Goats, Llamas, and Other Creatures
A middle-aged couple of escaped New Yorkers become shepherds in the rural outpost of West Marin California, and learn much about life—and about death—from the experience.
Prose, Poetry, and Art
West Marin Review
managing editor
A literary/art journal with works by locals and visitors to this very special northern California community. Blair Fuller, Joanne Kyger, Linda Pastan, Philip Fradkin, Terry Tempest Williams are some of the better known contributors to Volume 2.
English/Spanish Language
Thousands of Words You Already Know in Spanish: 3024 Common, Useful, Spanish Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives already in Your Vocabulary
with Richard Kirschman
“It says, Go ahead, give this language a try; you’ve already got the vocabulary.”
--San Francisco Chronicle
Nonfiction
Finding Hope When a Child Dies: What Other Cultures Can Teach Us
with Sukie Miller, Ph.D.
“This is the best book on parental grief that I have seen.”
--Seattle Times
Portraits
Sometimes My Heart Goes Numb: Love and Caregiving in a Time of AIDS
with Charles Garfield and Cindy Spring
“An extremely valuable source of information.... Your heart will be touched and your mind opened.”
--Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine, and Miracles

Praise for Selected Work

The Dogtown Chronicles, Our Life and Times with Sheep, Goats, Llamas, and Other Creatures
Doris Ober's new book is like spending a day with her and having a wonderfully Long Chat—and laughing, laughing, laughing with a few tears sprinkled in here and there.
Point Reyes Light

Enhanced by Kirschman's gorgeous color photographs and line drawings by Connie Mery, Ober's book explores how wildlife and domesticated pets enrich our lives by teaching us about the natural world and how to care for our fellow creatures... Ober's observations are delightful and sometimes heart-wrenching—particularly sections about the elderly, mistreated, and malnourished Sharif, whom the couple rescue and nurse back to health.
PW Select, NonFiction Book Reviews

For those of us who have had many animals in our lives, death is the part of their story that we rarely tell, yet it is significant in our memories and part of our real education in the complexity of what life is... We are rarely offered such an honest chronicle of life's mysteries.
West Marin Citizen



West Marin Review
managing editor
"An unpretentious, homespun collection of thoughtful journalism, poetry, music, and art...."
--Marin Independent Journal

Thousands of Words You Already Know in Spanish: 3024 Common, Useful, Spanish Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives already in Your Vocabulary
with Richard Kirschman
“[T]urn to any page in this book, and voilà: Here are words you already know--iceberg, idea, ideal, imaginable... each spelled exactly the same in both languages. The book lists identical words first, then words to which you simply add a vowel... or a verb suffix... or change tion to ción... and so on until you've looked in awe at 3,024 common words.”
--San Francisco Chronicle

Finding Hope When a Child Dies: What Other Cultures Can Teach Us
with Sukie Miller, Ph.D.
“A wise and courageous response to the painful questions that arise for us all after the death of a child... Written for both families and health professionals, [it] offers a new way to speak of and cope with this greatest of all life’s tragedies.”
--Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., author of Kitchen Table Wisdom

Sometimes My Heart Goes Numb: Love and Caregiving in a Time of AIDS
with Charles Garfield and Cindy Spring
“The spiritual depth of these skilled caregivers repeatedly inspires us to learn more about our capacity to serve others. I highly recommend this fine book as an important guide to understanding that true health begins and ends with the caring of mind, body, and spirit.”
--Deepak Chopra, M.D., author, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind