When Family Fails, Who Shows Up? Sarah Spector's NEXT BEST THING Offers a Personal Answer

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - EntSun -- Franklin Maurice Press announces the release of Next Best Thing: A Memoir of What Remains When Family Fails by Sarah Spector on October 13, 2026, available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. The memoir chronicles Spector's four-year experience caring for an aging man who had no one else to turn to, navigating fractured family relationships and the institutions entrusted with his care.

Spector is a California-licensed CPA and senior executive with more than 25 years of professional experience. In September 2018, while her cousin Abby lay dying in a Los Angeles hospital, she agreed to help Abby's stepfather, Peter. Known as Schatzi, he had Parkinson's disease and needed someone to take responsibility for his care. Spector was neither his daughter nor his next of kin, but she became the person he relied on.

What followed involved nursing homes, conservatorship proceedings, concerns about elder abuse, and the isolation of the pandemic. Through original text messages, emails, and legal documents, Spector gives readers an inside account of the decisions, frustrations, and emotional demands of unexpected caregiving.

More on EntSun News

• Technical Brief Examines Enterprise Integration Challenges as AI Agent Platforms Expand
• Beyond a Single Project: Studio Valdivieso Makes the Case for Creative Partnership
• Black 11 Entertainment Launches Executive Networking Experiences for Las Vegas Conferences
• OncoBeta Introduces Rhenium-SCT for Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer at Theageneio Cancer Hospital of Thessaloniki
• Majo Aguilar inaugurates the Paseo de las Estrellas at Plaza Mexico with the unveiling of her Estrella Maya

"Originally, I wrote this book because the stories about Schatzi were hysterical. He was chaotic, and I thought people would love reading about our adventures. As those adventures unfolded, I realized there was much more to the story that others could benefit from," says Spector.

Spector adds, "I hope readers in the sandwich generation feel understood in their caregiving experiences, and those who have had traumatic childhoods see themselves and find hope. I also wanted to pull back the curtain on Parkinson's disease, particularly psychosis, and its impact on loved ones and caregivers. And for readers who simply enjoy a good story, there's a lot of laughter with a few tears. I cried a lot, but that doesn't count."

In sharing her experience, Spector brings attention to what caregiving looks like when family relationships are fractured and responsibility falls to someone who never anticipated taking it on. Her account explores the meaning of family through the actions of friends and strangers who stepped forward, while Schatzi's personality brings humor to difficult circumstances.

More on EntSun News

• Who Won Paris Fashion Week SS27? Dior Took About 45% of the Week's $795.6M in Earned Media Value
• Brian G. Miller Co., LLC Receives Tier 1 Ranking in the 2027 Edition of Best Law Firms®
• The Villari Firm, PLLC Named to the 2027 Edition of Best Law Firms
• Bell, Janssen, O'Donoghue, 'Hocus Pocus' Stars Added to FAN EXPO New Orleans Guest List
• Made to Order, Not Made for Landfill: Leather Workshop Takes a Different Road into Black Friday

Next Best Thing offers a personal perspective for readers navigating caregiving, family estrangement, and the complicated choices involved in showing up for another person.

The memoir is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and is available wherever books are sold.

For more information, go to https://www.authorsarahspector.com.

About Sarah Spector

Sarah Spector is a Certified Public Accountant, independent business consultant, and author of Next Best Thing: A Memoir of What Remains When Family Fails. A survivor of childhood trauma living with C-PTSD, she became an unexpected caregiver and eldercare advocate in 2018. She wrote her memoir to honor her loved ones and offer fellow survivors hope that they, too, are deserving of love. Next Best Thing is her first book.