Sue Brayne originally trained as a nurse. She has an MA in the Rhetoric and Rituals of Death (King Alfreds, Winchester), a second MA in Creative Writing (Oxford Brookes) and a PGCE in adult education. For many years, she worked as a therapist, specialising in trauma, end-of-life issues, bereavement, and grief. Led by neuropsychiatrist Dr Peter Fenwick, she was an honorary researcher into a five-year retrospective study on end-of-life experiences and is the author of The D-Word: Talking about Dying, Sex, Meaning and the Menopause, and co-author of Nearing the End of Life: a guide for relatives, friends and carers. Currently, Sue runs pop-up Death Cafes, workshops, retreats, and training programs which address end-of-life issues and our relationship with mortality.