Swimming with Maya


A Mother’s Story

An inspiring story about the unique and complicated relationship between mothers and daughters, Swimming with Maya celebrates how that relationship continues to exist beyond the grave. $

Eleanor Vincent is masterful in her writing and storytelling. And she has shown that she was masterful in sustaining Maya’s life through miraculous gifts to others. Life becomes the winner in the end, showing death it cannot take away everything.

— SHERREY MEYER

Eleanor Vincent

My goal is to create stories that engage, move, and uplift readers. I want my protagonists to stumble and overcome against all odds to be ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. As it turns out, life has dealt me a few of those.
My memoir, Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story, describes the death of my 19-year-old daughter in a horse-riding accident and the subsequent donation of Maya’s organs to strangers in need. Meeting the man who received Maya’s heart, and the story of our ensuing friendship, gives readers an inside look at how organ donation affects grief recovery.
The book is a New York Times E-Book bestseller with more than 250 reader reviews on Amazon. It was nominated for the Independent Publisher of the Year award.

My Latest Book

My latest book, Space and Grace: A Neurodiverse Love Story is an intimate account of my late-in-life marriage to a man on the autism spectrum. $

Eleanor Vincent

My Writing Blog


Peace Begins with Me

Peace Begins with Me

“Keep fresh before me the moments of my high resolve.” –Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman What is your intention for 2024? I like to choose a word for the year ahead that sums up my intention. This year my word is “Peace.” The challenge I've set for myself is to let inner peace...

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Beginning Over

Beginning Over

These days, I watch the world go by from a different window. I mean that literally as well as figuratively. I’ve moved to the west side of Rossmoor, perched on a hillside with a view of Mt. Diablo, a grassy common space dotted with fruit trees, and a giant beech tree...

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Basel: Where Borders Meet

Basel: Where Borders Meet

A Medieval jewel set where three countries meet, Basel, Switzerland is a city that resonates with history yet looks forward with an air of confidence. It is a place where borders meet and can be easily crossed. Tucked into a crook of the Rhine River at a point where...

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Anthologies


Impact Anthology

Impact: An Anthology of Short Memoirs

Telling Our Stories Press, 2012

“Lucia’s Birth” tells the story of how Eleanor entered grandmotherhood by assisting at her daughter’s labor, interwoven with flashbacks of her birth and growing up years, intercut with memories of Maya. Lucia’s entry into this world changed the way she felt about losing Maya. $

This I Believe Anthology

This I Believe:
On Motherhood

Wiley, 2012

In this collection sixty essayists share, in intimate terms, what motherhood means to them. Eleanor’s essay, “The Gravity of Love,” shows how Maya’s death influenced the celebration of her sister’s wedding as seen through the eyes of the mother of the bride.$

End of Life Anthology

At the End of Life: True Stories About How We Die

In Fact Books, 2012

Eleanor’s essay, “The Resurrection of Wonder Woman,” explores the emotional and ethical impact of organ donation from the perspective of a grieving mother. Maya’s organs and tissues ultimately saved four lives and improved countless others.$

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