Lisa Niemi Swayze – Love is Worth Fighting For
Lisa Niemi has spent decades in the film industry. She wrote, directed and produced the film One Last Dance in 2004. In addition to other projects, she directed her husband, Patrick, in “My Brother’s Keeper”, one of the episodes from the acclaimed television series The Beast in 2008.
Most recently, she has completed a book titled “Worth Fighting For”, which chronicles her last months with her husband of thirty-four years, Patrick Swayze, as he battled pancreatic cancer. An emotionally honest and unflinching depiction of battling illness and loss, it is also an incredible, life-affirming exploration of the power of the human spirit. The book is scheduled for release in January 2012.
In 2009, Lisa and Patrick co-wrote his memoir titled “The Time of My Life” which became both a New York Times Best Seller as well as an international best seller. It is a behind-the-scenes look at their success in Hollywood and their remarkable love story, creating a memoir that is both entertaining and inspirational. A large part of the captivating story focuses on their private life and time divided between their ranches in New Mexico and just outside of Los Angeles, including their mutual passion for aviation and Arabian horses.
As an actress, Lisa has held many film, television, and Broadway roles. She also wrote, directed, and starred in the play Without a Word with her husband, garnering six Drama Critics Awards including Best Play, Writing, Direction, and Performance. Some of her film credits include One Last Dance, Beat Angel, Younger and Younger, Slam Dance and Steel Dawn. She starred in the television series Super Force, and had leading roles in Broadway’s Will Rogers Follies, Love Letters, and an award-winning production of The Brick and the Rose.
Niemi Swayze is a classically trained dancer and began her professional training with the Harkness Ballet. She then danced with the prestigious Joffrey Ballet II and the New York Contemporary Dancers.
In July 2011, she was honored with the title of Dame, and invested in the Royal Order of Francis I. Niemi Swayze is the National Spokesperson for Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and works diligently to raise awareness and better research funding for this terribly neglected and deadly disease.
She currently divides her time between Los Angeles and New Mexico.
Click the link to listen to Lisa Niemi Swayze’s interview:
Interview with Lisa Niemi Swayze
Lisa Niemi Swayze is the coauthor of New York Times bestselling book The Time of My Life, which she wrote with her late husband. In addition to writing, directing, and producing the film One Last Dance in 2004, she has held many films, television, Broadway roles, and wrote, directed, and starred in the play Without a Word, garnering six Drama Critics Awards. In July 2011, she was honored with the title of Dame and invested in the Royal Order of Francis I for her work on behalf of pancreatic cancer. Before turning to directing and acting, Niemi Swayze began her professional life as a dancer. Lisa currently divides her time between Los Angeles and New Mexico.
LISA NIEMI and PATRICK SWAYZE were married for thirty-four years. They first met as teenagers at his mother’s dance studio – he was older and just a bit cocky; she was the beautiful waif who refused to worship the ground he walked on. Through the years their marriage strained under the pressures that many do, but it was always a uniquely passionate and creative partnership.
When they first exchanged vows, Lisa promised to be with her husband “till death do us part.” But how many couples stop and think about what that truly means? Worth Fighting For is a remarkably candid look at what losing a partner really entails – how to care for him or her, how to make it through each day without falling into despair, and how to move forward in the second half of your life when the person you spent the first half with is gone.
For the first time, Lisa Niemi Swayze shares the details of Patrick’s twenty-one-month battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, and she describes his last days, when she simply tried to keep him comfortable. She writes with heartbreaking honesty about her grief in the aftermath of Patrick’s death, and she openly discusses the challenges that the years without him have posed.
While this is an emotionally honest and un-flinching depiction of illness and loss, it is also a hopeful and life-affirming exploration of the power of the human spirit. Lisa shows that no matter how dark the prospect of another day may seem, there are always reserves of strength to call upon. She writes, “I tell you, I am a different person now. One who has been thrown into the fire and forged.” Like The Year of Magical Thinking and A Widow’s Story, this book is both a tribute to a marriage and a celebration of the healing power that each day holds, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
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