What do you say to a sick friend?

Guest:  Letty Cottin Pogrebin

What do you say to a sick friend and why is it so difficult to come up with the words and actions that both adequately express our concern and at the same time offer comfort to someone who is struggling? It’s this “compassion etiquette” that is the topic of journalist LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN’s new book, How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick. While getting treatment for breast cancer, Pogrebin interviewed fellow patients to find out what they wanted from their friends in terms of help and conversation.  Her book includes what she discovered along with  practical wisdom about being a friend to someone who is suffering in other ways including losing a loved one or experiencing a personal crisis. Pogregin,one of the co-founders of Ms. Magazine and author of several other non-fiction books, joins Marty in the studio to share her observations and experiences.