Timely Death: Considering Our Last Rights

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

Euthanasia, mercy killing, and the right to die with dignity are among
the hotly debated issues considered in this book by Victoria journalist
Anne Mullens, formerly the science and medicine specialist at the
Vancouver Sun. Research for the book led her to interview experts in
Canada, the United States, England, Germany, and the Netherlands. She
also held the hands of the dying and heard their stories.

At the outset, Mullens had to overcome her aversion to the topic, her
feeling that death should not be stared at. For her, the fork in the
road was a call from the director of the Victoria-based Right to Die
Society. John Hofsess, who was representing Sue Rodriguez at the time,
offered Mullens the first print interview about the case. She saw the
opportunity as “a great story of mythological proportions,” and so
it proved to be.

Some of the topics covered in the book’s 10 chapters are the question
of control, the Dutch way of death, palliative care, withholding and
withdrawing treatment, the “quandary of incompetency,” and the
“art of dying.” Personal stories add greatly to this comprehensive
and sympathetic book, which is recommended for adults of all ages.