The Warren Report » death

Going. Going! Gone?

Warren — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:54:25 +0000

After a short hiatus, I am pleased to announce the return of Going. Going! Gone?, for our final two “death panels.” Will you join me?

Dying is the No. 2 fear of Americans, public speaking is No. 1. Of course, you can always avoid the latter. However, in this three-part series, host and fearless public speaker Warren Etheredge (of The Warren Report and The High Bar) will tackle both phobias, inviting three fellow mortals — a seeker, a physician and a spiritual leader — to join him on stage for three separate, frank, funny and enlightening conversations about the nature of our existence and a better understanding of our alleged ends.

GOING!

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16 AT 7 PM

With Hope Wechkin, MD, medical director of Evergreen Hospice and Palliative Care

THIS IS THE END, MY FRIEND. BUT IS THIS TRANSITION AS DEFINITE AS SCIENCE AND BUREAUCRACY CLAIM? WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW ABOUT OUR FINAL MOMENTS THAT MIGHT BRING US COMFORT, WISDOM AND LOVE?

GONE?

THURSDAY, MARCH 1 AT 7 PM

With Rabbi Ted Falcon, PhD, spiritual guide, author, teacher, therapist

TURN OUT THE LIGHTS, THE PARTY’S OVER. OR IS IT? WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR AFTERLIVES AND SHOULD THE PROMISE/THREAT OF AN ALTERNATE REALITY OR A SECOND GO-ROUND ALTER OUR BEHAVIOR IN THIS LIFE?

Bastyr University • 14500 Juanita Drive NE, Kenmore, WA 98028

Tickets: $12, sold at the door 30 min. before event

MORE INFO

For smarter readers… HOW TO LIVE

Warren — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:42:40 +0000

I am averse to advice books. Don’t tell me HOW TO LIVE, that’s why I have an autonomic nervous system! But Henry Alford‘s book is not some souped-up self-help tome, instead, it is as its subtitle advertises: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth). Of course, our elders may have been created equal, but not all have fulfilled their potential and Alford vets the aged for us. He rules out the crazed, the oft-quoted and the pap-peddlers. He allows the under-represented, the under-appreciated and the truly iconoclastic to share their insights. Phyllis Diller, the queen of self-deprecating comedy, reveals the energy-saving power of deflective positivity. Hyper-critical playwright Edward Albee explains how he can spin contempt into contentment simply by paying attention and remembering the happiest time is “Now. Always.” Granny D — no relation to Heavy — who walked cross-country to rouse apolitical Americans, stokes the public once more insisting we stop fearing Death or risk losing our lives. Author Harold Bloom, actress Sylvia Miles, aphorist Ashleigh Brilliant, Katrina-survivor Althea Washington and Sandra Tsing Loh‘s fodder-figure, Eugene, offer rational and irrational clues for how to get by, pull through and enjoy oneself even if we don’t always “succeed.” Wisely — what else? — Alford intersperses his interviews with his own familial inquisition that raises timely issues and untimely ends so dramatic, comedic, heart-breaking and uplifting that for a moment one wonders if he’s made it all up. Alas, the aptly self-defined investigative humorist is honest in his recounting of his parents’ late-life divorce and his mother’s particular courage and… wisdom. So poignant are her experiences, so powerful the lessons to be gleaned from her responses to them, she is almost deserving of a co-author credit. And, she should be proud of her son who has spun her tale and her contemporaries’ stories into that most rare treat, a book that teaches, never preaches; a book that enlightens while always eliciting laughs. Now that’s HOW TO LIVE.

A Modest Proposal: Natasha Richardson (video blog)

Warren — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:44:59 +0000

Americans respect Death about as much as they respect the musical stylings of Ashlee Simpson. We begrudgingly acknowledge the somewhat discordant inevitability of both. Cheap sentiment belies our fears and euphemisms mask our mortal worries when others… pass on, cross over, kick the bucket, bite the bullet, shuffle off this mortal coil and settle down for the big sleep of a Mitch Albom audio book.

When celebrities are, er, consigned to the earth, we spout humbling homilies of “tragedy” and “loss” as if these stars were closer to us than family and more valuable than capital gains taxes. But we don’t know really know these folks. Yes, I know: Stars, they’re just like… US! However, I think we should save our blubbering for those within our own bubbles or, better yet, for all the anonymous souls who have truly suffered.

Today, I propose a compromise, a way to properly pay respects for one fallen star while saving another so desperately in need. Watch today’s THINK piece, then draw your own conclusions and share them right here on The Warren Report.