AUGUSTA — “On Their Own Terms: How one woman’s choice to die helped me understand my father’s suicide,” a new book by Laurie Loisel, will be presented during a book reading and discussion at 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church on Winthrop Street. The event is open to the public.

In December 2012, Paul Loisel, of Augusta, killed himself at age 83 in the parking lot of the Hallowell police station. He was not sick, nor was he depressed. That act led Laurie Loisel to a friendship with a woman who chose to stop eating and drinking at the age of 90 to bring about her death, and later to write a book about both experiences, according to a news release from Loisel.

“Loisel tackles the heartbreaking, inescapable fact of mortality with unsparing clarity and a generous heart, examining what it means to choose our own exit from the world, and the demands we make on those we leave behind. Well-written, thoughtful, and vitally important,” writes Carin Clevidence, author of “The House On Salt Hay Road,” according to the release.

For more information, contact Loisel at 413-374-7604 or laurie.loisel@state.ma.us.