The Lives We Read: Reflections on Memory, Books, and How One Life Impacts Another
Introducing a series of essays ‘on the moments that shape a life.’
Editor’s Note: “What does it mean to live well together?”
Prohuman Pathways explores this question through a variety of perspectives. Every answer, in its own way, draws on the Prohuman character strengths we teach in our programs: gratitude, optimism, grit, courage, curiosity, compassion, fairness, understanding, and humanity—humility always at the foundation.
Tomorrow we begin publishing a new series of personal essays by award-winning author and Prohuman Foundation advisor Dr. Michael Tobin. Titled The Lives We Read, these reflections ‘on the moments that shape a life’ speak directly to our deep human longing for connection and beauty. They move beyond analysis, giving us the experience of humanity, courage, and grit. Of curiosity, optimism, humility, and gratitude.
At its heart, the series is an exploration of a powerful phenomenon: the stories we read become mortar in the foundations of our own lives. Through these vicarious journeys—in the act of pulling taut the thread between one heart and another—we find the strongest proof of our common bonds.
Tobin’s essays do exactly that. We’re proud to bring them to you.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Tobin has spent more than fifty years listening to people’s stories and just as long trying to understand his own. A clinical psychologist and award-winning author, he began writing at twelve with a three-act play about the Warsaw Ghetto—a child’s attempt to grasp courage and loss. His memoir, Riding the Edge, A Love Song to Deborah, won the Silver Prize in the Nonfiction Book Awards; his novel The Veil earned third place in the BookLife Prize; and his essays have received awards from The Free Press and Letter Review. His latest novel, Resonance, co-authored with Daniel Chertoff, will be published in October 2026. He writes, he says, “to create characters who live at the edge of brokenness and beauty.”
To learn more about Dr. Michael Tobin and his writing, visit his website:
drmichaeltobin.com
For a deeper look at his forthcoming novel with co-author Daniel Chertoff, visit: resonanceanovel.com
About The Lives We Read, in the Author’s Words
There are moments in our lives that don’t seem significant at the time—a conversation, a place, a book, or a person who says something we aren’t prepared to hear. Most pass without consequence. Some don’t.
Over the past fifty years, as a psychologist and writer, I’ve found myself returning to certain moments—not because they stood out at the time, but because of what they came to reveal. Something shifted. A way of seeing changed. Often, I only understood their meaning much later.
This series of essays grows out of those moments.
They are not presented as a single narrative, but as a series of encounters—with places, books, people, and time itself—that, in different ways, shaped a life. Each created an opening: a chance to recognize something that had been there all along, but not yet seen.
Not every moment leads to change. But when something is seen clearly enough, the possibility becomes difficult to ignore.
I was recently invited to join the Advisory Board of the Prohuman Foundation, an organization committed to exploring what it means to live with greater awareness, character, and connection to others. If there is a thread that connects these essays, it is this: we do not become who we are in isolation. We are shaped by what we encounter, how we respond, and what we come to recognize when we are finally able to see.
Meet The Author
Dr. Tobin will join the Prohuman Book Club on Thursday, June 25. Join the club for more information and invitations to future events.
Opinions expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Prohuman Foundation. We value diverse perspectives and invite submissions from those who can enrich our understanding of topics close to our mission: to promote the foundational truth that we are all unique individuals, united by our shared humanity.
Together, we have made immense progress building a foundation for social harmony. But, we still need your help. A generous donor is matching every contribution to the Prohuman Foundation, dollar for dollar, up to $250,000. Join the movement and double your impact today.
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Looking forward to reading these!