On Wednesday 24 October 2012 at Denver’s Oriental Theatre I joined 14 other speakers at Ignite Denver 12 in presenting 5 minute talks called “sparks.” These highly structured presentations require 20 slides (of one’s own making) that auto advance every 15 seconds (you can’t control them yourself; no running one slide for 23 seconds and […]
I try to stay upbeat about end of life stuff because (a) I’ve figured out a lot about it, untangling and reweaving what, in my best assessment, we need to know and act on to maximize our chances of dying in peace, and (b) I believe that when my fellow citizens know also, they’ll feel […]
This is a fascinating examination of issues around what it is to be dead, in the context of organ donation and harvesting. Terry Gross’s Fresh Air single-show, successive interviews with author Dick Teresi (The Undead) and transplant surgeon Richard Freeman, MD. Quicker to read but can be listened to. Do it.
On March 11 2012 Dr. Peter Goodwin ended his life under the law he helped create—the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. A short video interview with him is available here. Self-directed dying, for those diagnosed by several physicians as terminal with 6 months or less to live, offers a peaceful demise to those who are […]
In 2003 the renowned palliative nurse JoAnn Lynne published a set of 3 graphs. They’re called End of Life Trajectories; you can see them here. They depict how 3 of the primary causes of death in America unfold over time; the Y (up) axis is vitality and the X (across) axis is some amount of […]
. Compassion & Choices President Barbara Coombs Lee made a comment during an end-of-life (EOL) panel discussion that resonated fully: to help more people die in peace we need to “redefine the standard of care at end of life.” Think about this. Redefine the standard of care at end of life. This compact statement is […]
In yesterday afternoon’s HARO (www.HelpAReporterOut) list I learned of Susanna Speier’s Huffington Post column, Politiku. Politikus are hiku’s (3-line Japanese poems or stanzas with a 5-syllable, 7-syllable, 5-syllable structure) focusing on all things political. Speier put out a HARO call for health care reform politikus. Right up my alley (I write poetry in addition to […]
INAUGURAL BLOG POST: This weekend I attended the Colorado Independent Publishers Association annual College—the annual brain dump, er, conference. Saturday’s closing session, by distant past President Kenn Amdahl, titled My Obsession Your Obsession, was brilliant. A melange/collage of thought and expression, Kenn spoke over/while playing guitar, resurrecting and interpreting 200 year old unearthed Irish folk […]
