Living Out Loud

Jane Sweeney's Life Story

Jane Sweeney tells her life story with humor and candor. She grew up in the fifties in what Johnny Carson called "beautiful downtown Burbank." Her parents were alcoholics, whose fights taught her never to argue with someone - it gets ugly. To protect herself she hid under the bed with their cat, Skunky, beginning her lifelong love of animals.

She tells of riding around and listening to the Beach Boys in her husband-to-be's '56 Chevy. Gas was 29 cents a gallon. Her mother's death in 1980, when Jane was a 34-year-old mom of three, was a turning point. She became a volunteer in hospice, a new movement in the U.S. Jane went on to become a hospice director, and returned to school to get her Master's degree in Counseling Psychology, where she focused her studies on grief and loss.

Jane's career in hospice spanned the AIDS epidemic, and she learned her greatest lessons in grief and loss from renowned psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Following her retirement, she focused her attention on adapting to life in the country. She and her husband Tom moved to the smallest county in California, Alpine, with a population of 1100. She started rescuing animals - horses, cats, and dogs. Great adventures ensued.

Jane tells a story of following your passions wherever they lead you. In Living out Loud she advises us to live with authenticity and to take the road less traveled.