Reviews

“These are real poems in the traditional sense, not confected from wordplay or facile nature analogies or shimmering Haiku surfaces, but wrought in a deep and caustic and sometimes painful quest for the complex truths and felicities of her fascinating life and family that she described in her compelling memoir but transforms into transcendent art in her impassioned poetry.”
… “The holocaust and the tree poem redeems and transcends Joyce Kilmer!”

“You have to be gentle to be strong.” With these words and hundreds of others, Eileen Rockefeller draws us into her world where nature and spirit align to reveal beauty and wisdom in the gentle and ever revealing flow of giving and taking and prayer and relationship. She is the poet who writes like a mysterious and kind neighbor whom you’ve known your whole life, open but not intrusive, always discovering surprises in the silence and miracles in every nearby space and moment. Her words are both gentle and strong, companions on the road where “peace is the flower / And beauty it’s power.”

“Deeply rooted and yet often playful, these poems are filled with light and kindness.”

“In Space Between Eileen Rockefeller offers us a poetic celebration of daily life and a reminder of the opportunity to find the beauty and meaning present in the ordinary. These poems are an invitation to have new eyes and live the life you have been given deeply and joyfully.”

“The soothing, often spiritual, poems in Space Between remind me of my ineffable and comforting connections with nature and those I love. Thus, again in reading them they reinforce, for me, what makes my life meaningful.”

“Space Between is a body of work that reflects a lifelong commitment to writing poetry as a source of nourishment, self-empowerment and self-expression.

Eileen’s poetry offers an intimate window into her soul and glimpses of the journey of a woman in transition from seeking, to having arrived and fully become herself. It’s a wellspring of gratitude for the things you can’t buy: intimacy, love, and friendship.”

 

“Eileen Rockefeller shares a fascinating, moving and revealing tale of growing up in the midst of power and wealth, and moving on to find a True North star in life. Anyone of us, no matter our roots, will learn much about living with authenticity and compassion, and becoming the person we want to be.”
—DANIEL GOLEMAN, Author of Emotional Intelligence

“A beautifully written book…we learn that being fortunate in life has nothing to do with material goods but lies in being truly loved for yourself, exactly as you are.”
—RACHEL NAOMI REMEN MD, Author of Kitchen Table Wisdom

“An extraordinary book about a most remarkable woman who transformed her life and the lives of those around her. Insightful and inspiring!”
—DEAN ORNISH, MD, Founder and President, Preventative Medicine Research Institute; Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

“Eileen Rockefeller played a seminal, creative, and catalytic role in two as yet little known but revolutionary emergences in our culture:  (1) the rise and mainstreaming of mind/body medicine, and (2) the development and dissemination of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools. Both are based on robust scientific evidence that her efforts contributed to significantly. Both deserve major kudos.  In this memoir,  Eileen now reveals the human being behind these accomplishments, Her story is unusual,since she was born into a family dynasty that brought with it a karmic load that encompassed nothing short of the good, the bad, and the ugly, all of which she experienced from a very early age.  The result: a compelling “inside story” of the developmental trajectory of a young girl born into an extraordinary and complex family, compelled to find a way to ultimately become herself and contribute in her own unique and meaningful ways to the larger world.”
—JON KABAT-ZINN, Author of Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You Go, There You Are

“The book was a page turner…it made me realize that I need to examine whether lack of attention has been confused with lack of love.”
—SOL and DIANE PELAVIN, Pres. and Exec. V. P., American Institutes for Research

“Being a Rockefeller, Becoming Myself is everything a memoir should be: endowed with engaging characters, rich in detail, enlivened with episodes and stories, and above all, intensely personal. And add one other thing: courageous. Eileen Rockefeller has not held back in describing her family dynamics or her own feelings, thus has shared with us fascinating and utterly honest insights into her sometimes perilous journey toward unconditional love and acceptance.”
—JAMES AUTRY, Former President, Meredith Corporation’s Magazine Group, Poet, and speaking and management consultant

“I found it completely absorbing.”
—CINDY FRANKLIN, Executive Coach

“Eileen Rockfeller shows us that life’s many projections – internal and external – ultimately do not show us who we truly are. Regardless of what comes with a name – the soul still has to find its unique expression in the world. This engaging book is an extremely detailed and honest look at one woman’s search for safety of place and nuance of meaning in a world that often prefers boxes and labels.”
—PETER BUFFETT, Musician, Composer, Philanthropist, and Author of Life Is What You Make It

“Weaving together a lifetime of navigating her own family bonds and traveling among diverse people throughout the world, Eileen Rockefeller explores the common threads of human pain and joy in this lyrical memoir, proving that no one is immune from suffering and doubt, and that no one finds happiness without ingenuity and effort. An inspiring, fascinating, heartening read.”
—MARTHA BECK, Author of Finding Your Own North Star and Expecting Adam

“A transcendent message, all the more powerful for being implicit, is that even for a person born to the extraordinary world of Rockefeller, the world of self is of paramount importance”
–HENRY WEIL, Professor of Clinical Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University

“While few of us grew up in a generations-long famous family, most of us have experienced a personal struggle to find our own way, one that could include mutual acceptance and even loving understanding in our family. In this wise, sometimes humorous and remarkably candid memoir Eileen manages to share fascinating stories that make her personal journey reflect lessons in our universal longing for meaning, giving to the greater good and belonging.”
–KARE ANDERSON, Journalist, Speaker, Communications Strategist, Emmy Award Winner

“Eileen Rockefeller’s book made me recommit to listening to and remembering my own life…as a doorway from the unconscious and for God to speak…through symbols.”
–KATHY WONSON EDDY, Pastor/Composer

“In this poetic and readable memoir, Being a Rockefeller, Becoming Myself, Eileen Rockefeller courageously opens the private journal of her life and shares what it was like to grow up as the youngest child of six in one of America’s most storied families. It was a life of finger bowls and nursemaids, of splendor, privilege and isolation. “Do I have value beyond my last name?” she asks. As Rockefeller leads us on her life journey — from early academic challenges, to finding her voice inside her family, to youthful environmental advocacy, to pioneering work in the field of emotional intelligence, to finding her husband and soul mate — she finds her lights, and resolutely puts her singular gifts to work in making the world a better place. Her challenges are very specific; her quest for selfhood universal. Highly recommended!”
—WANDA URBANSKA, President, Jan Karski Educational Foundation; Author of Simple Living: 7 Paths to a Better Life; television host, media, public relations and political strategist

“These beautifully written essays are deeply moving. They inspire self-reflection and a passion for human connection. They model honest communication and the benefits of sharing feelings in constructive and loving ways. Readers will enjoy learning about the Rockefeller family, and more importantly learn valuable ways to relate compassionately to family members, friends, and themselves.”
—ROGER P. WEISSBERG, PhD, President and CEO, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

“Eileen Rockefeller has written a thoroughly engaging, perceptive, and warm-hearted memoir, deftly weaving together the threads of family history and personal journey in the story of her own coming of age. There is beautiful writing here, along with a fresh and energetic voice and a narrative that goes far beyond the inevitable resonances of fame and fortune and into a complex family landscape where, luckily, our guide not only is familiar with the territory, but is also compassionate, loving, and very wise.”
—REEVE LINDBERGH, Author of A Journal of My Mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh