#28 - Grieving the Death of a Friend with Zibby Owens

The one and only Zibby Owens joins me to talk about her memoir, Bookends, and her experiences grieving the death of three close friends.

In her new book, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, Zibby tells several story threads at the same time, all organized around the books Zibby was reading when events occurred. It starts as a personal family history of Zibby's grandparents rising in America, her own childhood, education, and career story. It's a motherhood story and a romance, too. But very central to this memoir is the tragedy of losing close friends too soon. Bookends in many ways reads like a love letter to three friends of Zibby's: Stacey, Avery, and Paige.

I've had episodes about helping friends who are sick and episodes about friendship breakups or when friends drift away, but I've never discussed the reality of grieving a friend.

Meet Zibby Owens:

Zibby is an author, a podcaster, a publisher, a CEO, and this next part we have in common— she’s a mother of four. She's the founder of Zibby Owens Media, a privately-held media company designed to help busy people live their best lives by connecting to books and each other. For more information, visit zibbyowens.com and follow her on Instagram @zibbyowens.

ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO

📢 This week’s fabulous sponsor + how to purchase ad space on Dear Nina

📱 Subscribe to my newsletter “Conversations About Friendship” on Substack

❤️ Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, the Dear Nina Facebook group

📪 Ask an anonymous friendship question

🔎 Want to work with me or need another link? That’s probably here.



Our sponsor this week: https://www.purewesson.com/

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands