Anna Howard, writer and broadcaster, has talked very openly and personally with a number of people who have in some way confronted death, either in their work with the dying, or in their experience of a bereavement, or because they have lived with a terminal illness, or simply because their age brings them close to the idea of death.
She includes, for example, Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the hospice movement; Sir Isaiah Berlin, the philosopher, now 86; Dr Anthony Storr, psychiatrist and author; Dadi Janki, Head of the Brahma Kumaris; two Buddhist Lamas; a couple who have made their own coffins and booked their own burial ground; and a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder.
All speak with honesty and depth, often with humour, but without sentiment or fear. What is revealed is the value of preparing for death.
She includes, for example, Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the hospice movement; Sir Isaiah Berlin, the philosopher, now 86; Dr Anthony Storr, psychiatrist and author; Dadi Janki, Head of the Brahma Kumaris; two Buddhist Lamas; a couple who have made their own coffins and booked their own burial ground; and a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder.
All speak with honesty and depth, often with humour, but without sentiment or fear. What is revealed is the value of preparing for death.