A Good Death?

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Related Books:


Swimming in a Sea of Death
(David Rieff)

The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead
(David Shields)

Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality
(Pauline W. Chen)

Incidental Music:

Improvisation sur les Folies d'Espagne
(Marin Marais)
Troisieme Lecon de Tenebres a 2 voix
(M-C. Kiehr and M. Figueras)
Selections from 'Home To Oblivion'
(Christopher O'Riley)
Waltz for Ruth
(Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden)
Spiritual
(Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden)
The Thing About Life is that One Day You'll Be Dead
01.25.2009
 (was 02.24.2008)

The celebrated writer Susan Sontag died a few years ago from a brutal form of blood cancer. She fought her illness to the end and didn't want anyone - including her son - to tell her she was dying. Now that son, David Rieff, has written a memoir of his mother's death. And he tackles a difficult question is there really such a thing as a "good death." In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about life's final chapter.

  1. David Rieff on "Swimming in a Sea of Death"

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    David Rieff has written a sobering account of his mother's last days. It's called "Swimming in a Sea of Death," and tells how he tried to do the right thing by his mother - Susan Sontag - while also being true to himself.

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  2. Judith Strasser commentary

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    Former TTBOOK producer and interviewer Judith Strasser was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2005. Last summer, a tumor in her lungs attacked the nerve which controls the larynx, making it difficult, but not impossible, for her to speak.

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  3. David Shields on "The Thing about Life is that One Day You'll Be Dead"

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    David Shields talks with Anne Strainchamps about his book, which is a meditation on how our bodies decay and die, and his irrepressible father who is 97 and who doesn't give death the time of day.

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  4. Pauline Chen on "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality"

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    Pauline Chen talks with Jim Fleming about her medical training and how ill prepared it left her for dealing with issues like grieving families.

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  5. Edward Wohl Commentary

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    Edward Wohl tells us about the death of his father in 1999.

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