Ellen Uzelac

Increasingly, Americans are sharing their grief in support groups, on talk shows, and in the arts, Ellen Uzelac asserts in the following viewpoint. She contends that public displays of mourning— from the AIDS quilt to monuments for victims of violence—are helping people to find innovative ways of dealing with grief, a trend that she believes is healthy. Uzelac is the author of Lost and Found:A Journey Through Grief.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What are some of the new types of grief recovery support groups described by Uzelac"
2. According to the author, what was one of the earliest contemporary public monuments of mourning"
3. In the opinion of Russell P. Friedman, quoted by Uzelac, how might public displays of grief be harmful rather than beneficial"

On a warm spring day in...