Grief Grit Glory

Pamela was featured on Kim Stewart's  Book Marketing Mania. In this conversation, Kim Stewart and Pamela Jessup Runner discuss the deeply personal journey behind Grief Grit Glory — a memoir shaped by motherhood, disability advocacy, heartbreak, faith, and enduring hope. Pamela reflects on raising her profoundly disabled son, Jonny, the unexpected path from Napa Valley wine to writing, and the lessons learned through grief, perseverance, and unconditional love. 

 In “Turning Heartbreak into Hope,” correspondent Ruth Roberts tells the story of Pamela’s forty-year journey with her son Jonny, from his birth with congenital CMV to the advocacy that opened doors for other families. (Week of September 17–23, 2026)

“She is a confident person who trusts and acts readily on the decisions she makes.” — Rev. Ted Zimmerman, pastor emeritus, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Napa

 Assembly Concurrent Resolution 205 was presented at the California State Capitol in recognition of congenital CMV Awareness Month. Pamela Jessup Runner stood alongside her son Jonny, Jonny’s care team, fellow cCMV mother and advocate Shelly Zappas, and Pamela's husband, former California State Senator George Runner, while family members observed from the Assembly gallery as their family’s decades-long journey of love, advocacy, and perseverance was honored publicly. The moment reflected the deeper message of Grief Grit Glory—that families, stories, and lives like Jonny’s matter deeply.