Toni Bernhard, J.D.

Until forced to retire due to illness, I was a law professor for 22 years at the University of California — Davis, serving six years as the law school’s dean of students. I had a longstanding Buddhist practice and co-led a weekly meditation group with my husband. Forced to learn to live a new life, I wrote How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and their Caregivers (Wisdom Publications, September 2010). The book is Buddhist-inspired but is non-parochial. The tools and practices in it are intended to help anyone. I live in Davis with my husband, also named Tony, and our hound dog, Rusty.

How to Be Sick has won two 2011 Nautilus Book Awards: A Gold Medal in Self-Help/Psychology and a Silver Medal in Memoir. It was also named one of the best books of 2010 by Spirituality and Practice.