Cory Doctorow, of Boing Boing, pickes up a sad story in The Telegraph about Terry Pratchett initiates assisted suicide process. Terry Pratchett is a prolific science fiction, and fantasy writer, who is most famous for his Discworld series.
Image: Terry Pratchett, Powell's, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from firepile's photostream
Beloved science fiction and fantasy writer Terry Pratchett has terminal early-onset Alzheimer's. He's determined to have the option of choosing the time and place of his death, rather than enduring the potentially horrific drawn-out death that Alzheimer's sometimes brings.
Doctorow continues"
But Britain bans assisted suicide, and Pratchett is campaigning to have the law changed. As part of this, he has visited Switzerland's Dignitas clinic, an assisted suicide facility, with a BBC camera crew, as part of a documentary will include Britain's first televised suicide. Pratchett took home Dignitas's assisted suicide consent forms.
He said: "The only thing stopping me [signing them] is that I have made this film and I have a bloody book to finish."
But he stressed that he was as yet still undecided whether he would eventually take his own life.
He said he changed his mind "every two minutes" but added that if he did choose to die would prefer to do so in England and in the sunshine.
Martin Evans, of the original Telegraph article tells us more in Sir Terry Pratchett begins process that could lead to assisted suicide.
The 63-year-old, who has a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, said he had received the consent forms recently and was now considering whether to sign them.
Sir Terry, made the decision to request the forms after accompanying a motor-neurone sufferer to the Dignitas clinic for a controversial documentary to be screened on Monday evening on BBC TWO. The film the shows 71-year-old Peter Smedley drink a cocktail of toxins at the clinic before dying in his wife’s arms.
It will be the first time suicide has been broadcast on terrestrial television and has sparked a fierce debate over the right to die issue.
Speaking ahead of the screening Sir Terry said he has now also received the consent forms from Dignitas, but added he had not signed them yet.
He said: “The only thing stopping me [signing them] is that I have made this film and I have a bloody book to finish.” But he stressed that he was as yet still undecided whether he would eventually take his own life.
How sad. He sounds so cogent. This is another one of those difficult issues, I don't know what to think about, but I submit to you for your consideration.
PS Can some kind soul please tell me again how to get text to wrap around pictures, as did not happen above. I used the allign=left which was supposed to be the secret trick according to the FAQ. Someone told me a few days ago, but I can not find the comment. Thanks.