Mortalities

In the face of the Earth. In the manner of words. All reasons to breathe, all reasons to see. They are gone away again
Manner of Words - East India Youth

We're in the realm of death-literature here, which may not be your thing. As ever, on DialM, I know my audience is varied. No need to read on, unless you wish to...

Two things that have caught my attention in recent weeks:

Tom Lubbock got a brain tumour and died. His wife Marion Coutts wrote a book, The Iceberg, about her experience. She has also published a book of his diary, Until Further Notice I Am Alive, of which here is an extract. He was a writer, and the tumour progressively disrupted his speech. But I found his writing very insightful just for its observations on the experience of disease. Her interview on the radio was very interesting too - though I haven't read the books.

Paul Wolfson got early onset dementia. With his partner Lore, he recorded conversations of his experience and perspective. A programme based on these recordings was recently broadcast on Radio 4. It certainly made me think! Paul took his own life - a response to his own position, but not something I have empathy or comprehension of. My own experience is precisely the opposite: to fight for life. But in Lore's story, I found a lot of perception on the impact of disease on the other half, too often overlooked.