Art Buchwald: Going gentle into that good night

Art Buchwald, the satirical columnist, died last week, his good humor and wisdom in his last months offering a profound lesson in how to face what he called "the topic no one wants to talk about" — death and dying.
Buchwald entered a hospice after choosing to reject kidney dialysis treatments, deciding that — for him, at age 80 — quality of life was more important than quantity. Then he surprised doctors and friends by living months longer than expected. He wrote and quipped right up until the end.
He said that he didn’t know what happens after death — nobody really does — and the important thing is how you live your life. "It’s what you do on Earth and the good deeds you do on Earth that are important."
In a society fearful of aging and death, Buchwald’s message of dignity and acceptance deserves a wide audience.
Here’s a clip of Buchwald talking about his death in a New York Times video obituary.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

5 Comments

  1. CapnAmerica
    Posted January 24, 2007 at 8:44 am | Permalink

    A genius.

    One of his best lines–”nuclear bombs don’t kill people, people kill people.”

    He’ll be missed. Corporate media has taken a hard-right turn since his heyday.

  2. writerdog
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 8:29 am | Permalink

    Yes his wit and insight using humor to make his point. Made the subject clearer and thought prevoking to all.

  3. TRACY
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 8:32 am | Permalink

    My kinda’ guy.The kind that sees humor and irony as inseperable.

  4. Jed
    Posted January 25, 2007 at 10:22 am | Permalink

    He was definitely Art for heart’s sake, an equal opportunity joker. While he inspired a generation of comedians, there will never be another Art Buchwald. We miss his wit already.

  5. SSM
    Posted January 28, 2007 at 10:28 am | Permalink

    We all mourn Art Buchwald’s passing and would like to bring your attention to The Remembering Site, a non-profit organization that makes it easy for anyone, anywhere to write their life stories. Art Buchwald recently published a great memoir, To Soon To Say Goodbye. Grateful if you could profile us on your blog to encourage your readers to write their biography/memoir at The Remembering Site. We will all die; but will we all take the time to write our life stories?