Amy Saltz Obituary, Death – On February 26, 2023, Amy R. Saltz, who was 62 and lived in Marblehead, passed away. Amy has devoted her life to the pursuit of healing and to paying it forward with gratitude after escaping the trauma of an unsuccessful attempt at suicide when she was a teenager. Her healing work led her to write and publish three books, all of which won awards: An Important Song, Discovering the Song: Living After Trying Suicide, and The Song Endures: Drumming With a Different Beat.
Writing and publishing these books was a natural development of her work. The Song’s Resonance, the author’s fourth novel, was just recently released for public consumption. Amy had a strong commitment to her patrons. She was also a dedicated volunteer at Temple Emanu-El, where she served in the role of librarian. She gave her time for a wide variety of community groups, some of which include the Marblehead Counseling Center, Anchor To Windward, Marblehead AIDS Awareness, and the Abbot Public Library.
She conducted seminars to psychologists in training at Mass General Brigham and to psychiatry residents at Tufts Medical Center. She also delivered Schwartz Rounds to caregivers at area hospitals. Inclusion, encouragement, and joy were the qualities that she brought to the volunteer work that she did, and they were the most important contributions that she made.
Amy’s spirit enjoyed playing games, had a strong connection to music, got his groove on while learning to play percussion, absolutely cherished the opportunity to instruct mah jongg, dove headfirst into calligraphy, praised various forms of theater and cinema, and took great pleasure in going on her many glorious bike rides.
Amy is survived by her immediate family (Roberta Frost Rosenthal, Jimmy Saltz, Lynne Saltz, and Ziggy Saltz, as well as Judy, Kyle, and Bryce Kowalczyk), as well as her extended family, as well as the families of her late former spouse Leon Wisel and late boyfriend Benjamin Harsip. She was her father Robert M. Saltz’s daughter before he passed away. The people who helped Amy heal include the grief counselor Judy Seifert, the trauma specialist Sandra Phinney, and the physician Harvey Zarren. Amy will always be grateful to them.