Press & Media
Everything you need to cover Maybe Life Hurts: book details, story angles, the people behind it, media assets, and review copies. Explore recent coverage below, and contact us for interviews or materials tailored to your story.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
National:
Lisa Braun Dubbels, Catalyst Publicity
612.806.4455 | lisa@catalystpublicity.com
Wisconsin:
Mike Counter
920.364.8864
Recent Coverage
Recent interviews and reporting on the book, Cassandra’s legacy, and the conversations it continues to open.
Book facts
TITLE
Maybe Life Hurts: So We Don’t Miss Her Lessons
EDITORS
Carol Bruess and Kurt Voss
PUBLISHER
Cassandra Jane Press
PUBLICATION DATE
September 18, 2026
FORMAT
Hardcover
PRICE
$59.95
CONTRIBUTORS
42 voices
CONTENTS
Essays, poetry, letters, reflections and visual art
ORDER
Available through this site
Book Descriptions
SHORT DESCRIPTION
A book for living the questions
A visually rich collection about grief, love, and the questions that change us, inspired by a feminist daughter and the father who let their relationship transform him.
LONG DESCRIPTION
A chorus of voices
Maybe Life Hurts is a beautifully designed collection of essays, poetry, letters, and art about the questions we carry through grief, love, faith, identity, and healing. Inspired by the life of Cassandra Voss and the ongoing dialogue between Cassandra and her father, Kurt, it asks what can happen when we stop rushing toward answers and stay open to being changed by one another.
Find a Contributor
Looking for a guest, source, or expert? Search the contributors to Maybe Life Hurts by topic, area of expertise, or name.
Try: grief, addiction, faith, relationships, mortality, loneliness, identity, hope
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Story Angles
With 42 contributors, Maybe Life Hurts holds many distinct stories and perspectives. These angles are a starting point; we can connect media with a contributor whose experience fits a particular story or audience.
FEMINIST & GENDER MEDIA
The feminist daughter and the conservative father
Cassandra challenged Kurt, invited him into unfamiliar rooms, and stayed in relationship across disagreement. He listened and let himself be changed.
GRIEF, LOSS & MORTALITY
What grief made possible
How a father turned devastating loss into dialogue, friendship, a center, and a living legacy — including an unexpected friendship with bell hooks.
FAITH, MEANING & SOCIAL HEALING
Living the questions
Why some of life’s most important questions are not problems to solve. Carol explores uncertainty, contradiction, and the pressure to force tidy answers.
BROADCAST & REGIONAL TV
The letter you haven’t sent
What might change if you sent the apology, admiration, or truth you keep postponing? The book’s stationery makes the invitation concrete.
RELATIONSHIPS & PSYCHOLOGY
Grief and joy are not opposites
The book’s both/and realities hold grief and joy, faith and doubt, brokenness and repair at the same time.
HIGHER EDUCATION & CIVIC DIALOGUE
Dialogue across difference
What it takes to stay at the table with someone you love when you disagree. A family and civic story that invites curiosity.
Bios & Headshots
Carol Bruess, PhD
Co-editor · relationship researcherCarol Bruess, PhD, is a relationship researcher, author, professor emerita, and co-editor of Maybe Life Hurts. She can speak about the book’s questions, relationships, and the power of staying in conversation.
Kurt Voss
Co-editor · Cassandra’s fatherKurt Voss is Cassandra’s father and co-editor of Maybe Life Hurts. His relationship with Cassandra across political difference and his work to honor her legacy are central to the story behind the book.
The inspiration behind the bookCassandra Voss
Cassandra Voss’s life, art, and curiosity are at the heart of Maybe Life Hurts. Her conversations with her father helped shape its invitation to stay open to one another across difference.
Media Assets
View images already published on this site. For original files, additional interior spreads, stationery, or a packaged press kit, use the request form below.
Book cover
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Interior sample
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Carol Bruess
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Kurt Voss
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Cassandra Voss
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Cassandra’s artwork
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REVIEW COPIES & INTERVIEWS
Request a review copy
Covering Maybe Life Hurts? Tell us about your outlet, deadline, and the story you’re working on. Use the form to request a review copy, an interview, original image files, interior spreads, or a contributor introduction. We’ll follow up about availability.