Always There Always Gone

June 20, 2025June 20, 2025 by onemoreexclamation

Welcome to the Always There Always Gone by Marty Ross – Dolen book tour hosted by Suzy Approved Book Tours.

About Always There Always Gone

Title: Always There Always Gone

Author: Marty Ross – Dolen

Released: May 6, 2025

Find it: Amazon

In her poignant, genre-bending, grandmother-mother-daughter memoir, ALWAYS THERE ALWAYS GONE, Ross-Dolen mixes ‘wisps’—long and short form prose, photos, erasure poetry, and letters—to explore the tragic deaths of her grandparents and the difficulty of growing up with a mother suffering from protracted grief. The fragmented, non-linear narrative reflects Marty’s journey, grappling with intergenerational trauma.

Marty’s family founded the iconic Highlights for Children magazine. In 1960, on their way from Columbus, Ohio, to New York City for meetings about newsstand placement, her grandparents were killed in an airline disaster involving the collision of two commercial jets. Marty’s mother was fourteen.

For Marty’s entire childhood and much of her adulthood, she shielded her mother from further pain even as Marty yearned to know her grandmother. Research and family stories revealed that her grandmother was a vibrant, bright, and confident woman. But it was only by imagining conversations and meetings with her grandmother that Marty felt a connection. In this haunting, loving, and moving memoir, Marty Ross-Dolen pays tribute to a remarkable woman she never knew and lays bare the ways in which grief shapes us all.

Book Blurbs

“Using lyrical prose and startling imagery, Marty Ross-Dolen tells the story of a life marked forever by a past family tragedy. This deeply haunting and tremendously moving work of beauty offers a rare and genuine glimpse into the way a heart can both break and mend at once.”—Bret Lott, author of Jewel, an Oprah Book Club pick, and Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer’s Life

“A tragic accident, an inherited trauma, a fierce desire to protect. These are the threads Marty Ross-Dolen weaves in Always There, Always Gone. Searching for a grandmother she never knew, Ross-Dolen forges connections between three generations—grandmother, mother, daughter—in this wise and moving memoir. Innovative in its approach, Always There, Always Gone reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit and the ties that bind.”—Lee Martin, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever

Review for Always There Always Gone

This one’s for the tender-hearted readers—the ones who appreciate a slow, soulful story that lingers long after the last page. Always There, Always Gone is a beautifully written memoir that unpacks layers of silence, grief, and generational love with grace and raw honesty.

Marty Ross-Dolen takes us on a personal journey that begins with the mystery of her grandparents’ tragic plane crash and unfolds into something much deeper: a lifelong exploration of her relationship with her mother. It’s a mother-daughter story wrapped in memory, music, and unspoken sorrow—heartbreaking, healing, and human all at once.

The writing feels like a soft touch on a bruise—gentle but unafraid. As Marty digs through family history and summer music camp memories, she doesn’t just chase answers—she opens space for understanding, for grace, and for honoring the ache of what’s been lost.

It’s reflective, sometimes painful, but also incredibly uplifting. This book is a gift—wise, spare, and exquisitely crafted. Highly recommend, but keep tissues close.

About The Author

Marty Ross-Dolen is a graduate of Wellesley College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist. She holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Prior to her time at VCFA, she participated in graduate-level workshops at The Ohio State University. Her essays have appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Redivider, Lilith, and Willow Review, among others. Her essay entitled “Diphtheria” was named a notable essay in The Best American Essays series. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Website – She Writes Press