You’re Not Dead Yet: How Grief and Loss Can Teach You to Live

In You’re Not Dead Yet, David Ferrugio – host of the DEAD Talks Podcast – draws on his own childhood loss to write with rare honesty about grief. He was twelve when his father died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, and this book traces how that loss evolved and resurfaced throughout his life, seen through the lens of a child trying to make sense of the unthinkable. His storytelling is authentic and immediately welcoming, inviting readers into his experience rather than lecturing them through it.

Rather than offering a tidy roadmap to healing, Ferrugio treats grief as it actually is: unpredictable, nonlinear, and something that keeps teaching you long after you think you’ve learned its lessons. As he puts it, grief isn’t a problem to be solved, it’s a teacher that shows up uninvited and won’t leave until you’ve learned everything it has to offer. Woven throughout are metaphors and stories drawn from his own life and from hundreds of conversations on his podcast, many of which are likely to stay with readers long after they close the book.

What makes this resource especially valuable for our Eluna Resource Center is its range: it speaks equally to a grieving teenager, a young adult, or an adult navigating grief or supporting another person through loss. Its expansive view of grief means there’s something here for nearly every reader in our community, making it a strong addition for families, caregivers, and professionals alike.