After being featured on the cover of the November 2012 Arizona Jewish Life, Ester A. Leutenberg says she had “loads of reactions from people … who knew me for years and learned so much about me from the article (and didn’t realize how much they didn’t know).”
Ester, who turns 77 on Nov. 18, has worked in the mental health profession for many years as an author, publisher and advocate for those suffering from loss. She personally experienced a loss when her son, Mitchell, after struggling with a mental illness for eight years, died by suicide in 1986. Since 1987 Ester has co-authored 61 books. One of her recent books, The Complete Caregiver Support Guide, received a Silver Award in the category of Psychology from the Independent Book Publishers Association, the largest nonprofit publishing association in the country. Ester was given this prestigious honor at ceremonies held in New York City on May 29. Recently she joined the board of the Sun City Oro Valley Havurah as membership chair. “It’s a group of about 150 mostly Jewish people (and some people who were brought up with Jewish people and like to hang out with them),” says Ester. Her long-term goal is to co-author 100 books. Her books can be found at wholeperson.com and Amazon.com.
