Health Writer Looks at Death

No one writes about life at its most basic level more than Jane Brody, a longtime columnist on health for the New York Times who has also written a number of books on healthy living. I've always enjoyed her writing, but in her most recent column, Brody departs from her usual subject of diet and exercise to take a deeply personal look at death. Her husband, Richard, recently developed lung cancer, and Brody describes in painful but sensitive detail how they were facing the inevitable.

Brody focuses on the decisionmaking, medical treatment and possible outcomes in her column, which is remarkable in its clear-eyed detachment. Perhaps because of that detachment, it is also a deeply a touching and courageous essay.