An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love by Richard Carlson is a small book with something big to say.

You may know Carlson as the author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff—and It's All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life, which was published in 1997 and spent two years on USA Today’s bestseller list.

An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love is a small book and it sits on my bookshop alongside much Richard Bach’s equally small books, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, One Jonathon Livingstone Seagull.

However, while Bach’s mini novellas were only semi-autobiographical, Carlson’s small book is a true story. Actually, it’s a letter he wrote to his wife Kristine Carlson, which he presented to her on their 18th wedding anniversary. Seven years later, in 2006, after he died suddenly at the age of only 45, Kristine pored through 25 years of love letters from him, but this anniversary letter stood out.

Kristine writes: 'How poignant and powerful his message is now. Three years later, during the most sorrow-filled moments of my life, as I grieve his premature death and the loss of my true love and the plans that we had for our future together that will never happen, I remember this letter to me – the best gift every given.'

The letter opens with Richard writing: 'I've always believed that when reflecting on a life worth living, in which you are going to cherish every step along the way, it's a good idea to jump ahead and look back. This is a great way to get immediate and accurate perspective about what's really important right now.

'My absolute favourite quotation is from author Stephen Levine. He says, "If you had an hour to live and could make just one phone call, who would it be to, what would you say . . . and why are you waiting?" None of us knows, of course, how long we have to live. Even fewer of us realize what a blessing in disguise this "curse" of knowing we will one day really is. It encourages us to live life on the edge, not to take life for granted, and to be grateful for what we have, treating life as the miracle it truly is.'

An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love is a powerful reminder to treasure each day as an incredible gift.

I wasn’t actually planning to tell listeners about Richard Carlson's book in Episode 3, but his book figuratively jumped off my bookshelf when I was prepping for the show. Even more profound, it was only a few hours after I’d driven home from a memorial service in Golden Bay, to celebrate the life of Judith Hoch, an American author, artist, anthropologist, spiritualist, teacher, environmentalist and, for the past 20 years or so, custodian with her husband John of a very special patch of land in Wainui Bay.

Like Richard Carlson, Judith passed away suddenly. She died on Tuesday May 10, with her husband John by her side.

At the celebration of her life, which was held at the Pōhara Boat Club, I learned that Judith last words for her brother had been ‘Keep having fun’ and that she had very much embraced the philosophy of living each day to the full because you don’t know when tomorrow will be your last.

As the celebrant Laura Manson made her closing remarks and said her final goodbyes to Judith, a candle she’d lit earlier in honour of all the ancestors who had walked before Judith inexplicably started sizzling and extinguished itself and a trail of smoke wafted towards the celebrant.

An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love was published posthumously in 2008 with an introduction by his wife. Like Carlson, Judith has also left a body of unpublished writing. Hopefully it may one day make its way out into the world.