Remember "Coffee Talk," the Saturday Night Live skit with the Barbara Streisand-loving, constantly verklempt character portrayed by Mike Myers, who encouraged listeners to "talk amongst themselves"? Linda Richman was the inspiration for her. (Myers is her son-in-law; a sharp sense of humor apparently runs in the family.) Like the "Coffee Talk" lady, Richman teaches people how to handle suffering through laughter. She's so good at it that she teaches a seminar on the topic at the posh Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Arizona. But she speaks from some harrowing experiences. Several friends and relatives have battled cancer. Her 29-year-old son died in a car crash. Her depressed, institutionalized mother died a few days later after falling into a coma (her final words to her daughter: "Linda, you got fat").
