Category Archives: Media
Book: What the Dead Know
True crime aficionados know that medical examiners, like the late great Dr. Donald Mallard (Ducky) on NCIS, talk to the dead and the dead talk back. It is not unusual when watching an episode of NCIS to hear Ducky, or … Continue reading
Posted in Book, Death, Death Professions, Media
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Academia: Recap of the Last Days
This was written as part of a death and dying course at Western Michigan University. Original Submission Date: April 10, 2020 Overview Luck played a significant part in physically surviving the Holocaust. Some lived because they were deemed healthier than … Continue reading
Books: All the Living and the Dead
When I think of people who work with the dead, I think of people who work in funeral homes, including funeral directors and embalmers, police detectives and that’s about it. However, in her entertaining book All the Living and the … Continue reading
Posted in Book, Death, Death Professions, Grief
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Movie: The Bucket List
Carter Chambers, a blue collar mechanic who gave up his dreams of being a history professor, and Edward Cole, a four-times divorced billionaire, are an unlikely pair, except for one commonality: terminal cancer. They meet because Edward Cole, who owns … Continue reading
Documentary Review: The Secret Life of Death
Walter Carter Funeral Home is a 130-year-old business in Sydney Australia that is facing the economic reality of consolidation in the funeral home business. In order to stay alive, Walter Carter joins forces with another family owned funeral home, which … Continue reading
Podcast Review: All There is With Anderson Cooper
Link: All There is with Anderson Cooper In the last episode of this podcast, Anderson played voicemails from people who shared their grief with him and one of these voicemails was from a mother who said she shared her grief … Continue reading
Movie Review: My Sister’s Keeper
Anna Fitzgerald’s parents had her in order to save her older sister, Kate, who was dying of cancer. Kate’s cancer impacted the entire family as their world revolved around keeping her alive. Howev er, when Anna was 11 and Kate … Continue reading
Documentary Review: How to Die in Oregon
How to Die in Oregon opens in Roger Sagner’s living room. He is surrounded by family and friends as he prepares to down the lethal drink that will end his life. Thanks to Oregon’s death with dignity law, Roger and … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Documentary, Grief, Media, Physician Assisted Suicide
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Movie Review: Taking Chance
When a member of the US military dies in battle, their remains are transferred home for burial through a process called a dignified transfer. The body is placed in a metal casket surrounded by ice packs in the theater of … Continue reading
Movie Review: Wit
WIT is a movie that tells the story of Vivian, a brilliant professor who is diagnosed with cancer. Throughout the movie we see how her life has been lonely as her constant companion is only literature. Her only visitor is … Continue reading