Art Buchwald 1925 - 2007

[owl]

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, WWII vet/U.S. Marine Buchwald decided against dialysis a while back, but instead of dying, he just kept on living- and writing.

 

BUCHWALD: It was a tough decision, because you're affecting other people. You know, yourself, you're affecting your family. But I made it. I was relieved. It was over. The decision was made. The only part of it that I don't understand, and nobody else understands, is why I'm still here.

 

But, you know, it's a no-no. You're not supposed to talk about death. You're not to talk about where you're going. Yet everybody that's listening to this show knows they're going to go. And so it shouldn't be a secret. It shouldn't be banned. It should be a good thing. At least, you know, the way you go, I can't predict that. But you don't have to make it a terrible thing.

 

I'm having the best time of my life. Wouldn't you, to be sitting here, and everybody thinks you're a wonderful person? And you can't take it all, because first of all, you know, you start to feel like John Glenn. The big question that keeps coming up all the time with anybody -- an interviewer talks to me -- is: Do I believe in God?

 

The answer is: I believe in God, but I'm not too certain that the people that are telling me, 'It's God's will' are the ones I want to listen to. I've found a way that not a lot of people have to make other people laugh. And I'm proud. I hope I can be remembered for that. Because everybody wants to be remembered for something when they go...

 

From Wikipedia:

 

In February, 2006, Buchwald checked himself into a Washington, D.C. area hospice. Although his kidneys were failing, he elected to forego kidney dialysis, saying that he wished to finish his days his way and to avoid end-of-life ailments that befall so many elderly individuals. However, his health did not fail as rapidly as he expected.

 

In June, 2006, Buchwald was again interviewed by Diane Rehm after leaving the hospice. He reported that his kidney was working and that he blesses "him [his kidney] every morning. Some people bless their hearts, I bless my kidney." He reported he was looking forward to getting a new leg and visiting Martha's Vineyard.

 

In July, 2006, Buchwald returned to his summer home on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, a place he never expected to see again. While there, he completed a book titled, Too Soon to Say Goodbye, about the five months he spent in the hospice. Eulogies that were prepared by his notable friends, colleagues and family members, but were never delivered, are included in the book.

 

Click here for the obituary at CNN.

[mountain bed]

What a great guy. A fantastically funny & sarcastic writer. "While Reagan Slept" was a favorite book way back when.

[Sir Stewart]

The man was given a death sentence years ago, and kept on keepin on. RIP.

[MattZ]

An inspiration.

[LouieB]

Art was one of the first newspaper columnist I ever read back in my youth. Funny and insightful. He really had a great career and kept living in the face of serious illness. A real inspiration all the way around.

 

LouieB

[mchchef1]

I always ordrerd his sandwich at the Martha's Vineyard Deli

Roast Beef Cole Slaw and Horse radish, what's better than that?

[cryptique]

Always loved his writing. He'll be missed.

[owl]

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=116744

 

Buchwald announces his own death in debut NYT video obit

from Poynter Online by Jim Romenesko

 

"Hi, I'm Art Buchwald and I just died," the late columnist says in a video posted on the New York Times website. Tim Weiner, who conducted the obit interview, tells Joe Strupp: "He really was hurting, he was not healthy. But when the time came to talk, he was just himself." At least 10 other nytimes.com video obits have been completed and edited. || Ben Bradlee talks about Buchwald in an online chat.