4. ‘LAST DAY,’
FROM CHARLOTTE’S WEB
BY E.B. WHITE
“Charlotte,” said Wilbur after awhile,
“why are you so quiet?”
LET’S TALK
ABOUT DEATH
HUFFINGTON
09.29.13
“I like to sit still,” she said. “I’ve
always been rather quiet.”
“Yes, but you seem specially so today.
Do you feel all right?”
“A little tired, perhaps. But I feel
peaceful. Your success in the ring
this morning was, to a small degree,
my success. Your future is assured.
You will live, secure and safe, Wilbur.
Nothing can harm you now. These
autumn days will shorten and grow
cold. The leaves will shake loose
from the trees and fall. Christmas
will come, and the snows of winter.
You will live to enjoy the beauty
of the frozen world, for you mean
a great deal to Zuckerman and he
will not harm you, ever. Winter will
pass, the days will lengthen, the ice
will melt in the pasture pond. The
song sparrow will return and sing,
the frogs will awake, the warm wind
will blow again. All these sights and
sounds and smells will be yours to
enjoy, Wilbur—this lovely world, these
precious days…”
COURTESY OF MICHAEL HEBB
5. ‘A GOOD DEATH.’
A PHOTO PROJECT
BY JOSHUA BRIGHT
“For more than a year, I visited and
photographed a dying man named
John R. Hawkins. I had found him
through the New York Zen Center for
Contemplative Care when I went in
search of both a photo project a nd a
profound experience,” Bright wrote in
The New York Times of his project.
6. ‘CONGRATULATIONS
YOU GONNA DIE!,’
BY ALAN WATTS
An animated short with interesting
thoughts about death in our society.
Watch it here.
“This is what the table does
well. It’s a good place to have
difficult conversations.”
the leading cause of bankruptcy;
a Pew Research Center survey in
2009 found that only 29 percent
of Americans have a living will.
Now Death Over Dinner includes big names, like the health
care conference TedMED; spiritual
teacher Ram Dass; and Marcus Osborne, the vice president of health
and wellness payer relations for
Walmart, either participating in or
supporting the initiative. Using a
robust social media and web campaign, it quickly gained hundreds
of participants after it was announced in the spring.
“For years, doctors have been
talking to doctors about how
to talk to patients about dying,
which is wonderful, but truth-
Michael Hebb
(left) and
filmmaker
David Llama
share a meal
on the Day
of the Dead,
during one of
the inaugural
death dinners
held in
conjunction
with the
University of
Washington
in 2012.