Shortly after arriving on Cape Cod to spend a year by herself,
Joan Anderson’s chance encounter with a wise, playful, and
astonishing woman helped her usher in the transformations and
self-discoveries that led to her ongoing renewal. First glimpsed as
a slender figure on a fogged-in beach, Joan Erikson was not only a
friend and confidante when one was most needed, but also a guide as
Anderson stretched and grew into her unfinished self.
Joan Erikson was perhaps best known for her collaboration with
her husband, Erik, a pioneering psychoanalyst and noted author.
After Erik’s death, she wrote several books extending their theory
of the stages of life to reflect her understanding of aging as she
neared ninety-five. But her wisdom was best taught through their
friendship; as she sat with Anderson, weaving tapestries of their
lives with brightly colored yarn while exploring the strength
gathered from their accumulated experiences, Joan Erikson’s lessons
took shape on their small cardboard looms as well as in her
friend’s revitalized life.
In writing about their extraordinary friendship, Anderson reveals
a need she didn’t know she had: for a mentor to help navigate the
transitions she faced as she grew beyond middle age. And when Joan
Erikson had to face her husband’s death and the growing limitations
of her own body, Anderson was able to give back some of the wisdom
she had gleaned. To this poignant, joyful account, Joan Anderson
brings the candor and sensitivity that have made her an acclaimed
speaker and writer on midlife and its possibilities. A Walk on the
Beach is an experience to savor and treasure, a glimpse of the
exuberant spirit that can be sustained and passed on in all our
friendships.