About the Author

Robin Russell Gaiser earned her BA in English at The College of William and Mary, where she also sang and played with a folk-rock group, both on campus and in venues in Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. After graduation she taught writing and literature in Fairfax County, Virginia; then, while raising her family, she gave private lessons in guitar and dulcimer and performed publicly under the auspices of the Fairfax County Council of the Arts. She also sang in classical choirs and joined The Mill Run Dulcimer Band, recording seven albums now included in the Smithsonian collection. With her children grown, Robin earned an M.A. in psychology from Marymount University and worked as a guidance counselor for eight years. Then, after relocating to upstate N.Y. and becoming caregiver-and bedside musician-for her dying father, she enrolled in a certification program for therapeutic musicians. As a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP), she is trained to provide live, bedside, one-on-one acoustic music to critically and chronically ill, elderly, and dying patients. After forty-three years in northern Virginia and eight years in upstate New York, Robin and her husband relocated to Asheville, N.C., where she has pursued both her music and her writing careers. Currently pursuing a graduate certificate in Narrative Medicine at Lenoir-Rhyne University's Graduate Center, Robin also volunteers as a musician at homeless shelters, for homebound seniors, and for nonprofit fundraisers. She and her husband are the parents of one daughter and two sons, and grandparents of three.

Reviews

Musical Morphine takes the reader on a positive and sometimes very emotional journey of dedication, hope, and warmth as Robin Gaiser tells the stories of the lives that she has touched as a musician, healer, and loving human being. She embraces the challenges of her patients' pain and despair and demonstrates how her music nurtures the sick and infirm in beautiful, positive ways on their personal transitional journeys. A must read. -Nick Jacobs, B.S., MEd, MPM, FACHE Chairman, Clinical and Translational Genome Research Institute Fort Myers, Florida Musical Morphine offers insight into healthcare that places care of the soul at its center. A moving, inspiring, and hope-giving book... Laura Hope-Gill Director, Thomas Wolfe Center for Narrative Narrative Medicine Program, Lenoir-Rhyne University This book beautifully captures and reveals the many mysteries and miracles that occur regularly in the work of any therapeutic musician, and how our training through the Music for Healing and Transition Program guides us in navigating the sometimes murky waters of therapeutic music. The story of therapeutic music in America, told in a readable, entertaining, and meaningful way. Earl Fowler, JD, CMP Chief District Court Judge, retired Musical Morphine intertwines one woman's journey through grief with her ability to move through that same experience with others, assisted by a handful of instruments and her mastery of lyric, melody and rhythm. Music, through its many layers and forms, is intrinsically built to accompany end-of-life experiences and all the emotions that arise on that path. There is such a need. So, come on in, there's plenty of room. And, as you will learn as you turn these pages, results can be simply life-changing. Lara McKinnis, MS, MT-BC Lovely and moving! [Gaiser] writes with reverence and restraint, letting the stories naturally unfold. The writing has a wonderful, quiet rhythm. -Laurel Hunt, pet therapy volunteer, Mission Healthcare author, Pawprints: Reflections on Loving and Losing a Canine Companion As a physician, I often see patients struggle through illness and suffer the limits of medical interventions. The[se] stories reveal the art in healing and sometimes, despite our best efforts, the art in dying. As a healthcare music practitioner, Gaiser offers not only joy to the listener but an anesthetic for the patient. [The author's experiences illustrate the profound effect that music can have in awakening the joy in patients' hearts, healing broken relationships in families, and liberating dying souls with grace. Susan Mims, MD, MPH, FAAP Mission Health Systems [In] Robin Gaiser's powerful narrative about relationships with family, friendship, pain, joy, and love through the gift of music, the reader is privy to sacred moments with people at their most vulnerable... Musical Morphine sings of courage, encounter, and peace. Katharine R. Meacham, PhD Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Mars Hill University Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Social Medicine, UNC SOMS-Asheville Lovely moving stories ... Chill-bump prose. Tommy Hays Director, Great Smokies Writing Program, UNC Asheville I got so emotionally involved, [despite] not knowing much about the people described. But ... providing background on dying folks' need for resolution and the lyrics to those old hymns and songs is really powerful. Dwight Martin, MFA student, Queens University, Charlotte