Posted on 06/05/2005 11:45:26 AM PDT by 8mmMauser
"Too Late To Die Young: Nearly True Tales From a Life," by Harriet McBryde Johnson.
About two years ago, Harriet Johnson appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. If you saw her portrait, you probably haven't forgotten it.
A thin woman in a wheelchair leans forward, a purple shawl draping one shoulder. Johnson describes it this way in her new memoir: "The portrait has been described as beautifully disturbing, and most nondisabled people seem to see it that way. I'd prefer to call it disturbingly beautiful, but I'll take it the other way around if I must."
Johnson has an unnamed muscle-wasting disease, but don't dare say she "suffers" from it. She insists on being her own complicated person, a Southern lady, for instance, as well as a socialist, an atheist, a lawyer and a born storyteller with a wicked sense of humor.
She eschews pity and sentimentality. She supports the work of Not Dead Yet, a group of anti-euthanasia activists who demonstrated outside Terri Schiavo's Pinellas Park hospice earlier this year, dramatically sliding out of their wheelchairs and lying on the ground.
And though Johnson hates the hackneyed trope of triumph in the face of disability, she nevertheless has a string of interesting adventures. She runs for elected office. She travels to Cuba to discuss disability rights. She protests the Jerry Lewis telethon annually in her hometown of Charleston, S.C., and she bribes her friends to join her with promises of free food.
Her gripe with the telethon is its grim prognostications. When she was 30, her mother became ill, and Johnson had to accept for the first time that, contrary to all expectations, she might indeed outlive her parents. "While anyone may die young, it's not something you can count on," she writes. "You have to be prepared to survive." It's that angry, proud but utterly normal brand of survival that is at the heart of Johnson's memoir.
The most fascinating chapter is her encounter with the philosopher and animal rights activist Peter Singer. (It was this encounter that rated The New York Times Magazine cover.) Singer believes that in some cases it is morally acceptable for parents to kill severely disabled infants. Johnson disagrees, so much so that she fears even debating him would dignify his ideas as socially acceptable. Nevertheless, she meets him, travels to Princeton University to debate him and ends up with a great story about it.
The best memoirs don't necessarily tell every event in a person's life, but they do capture the voice and the emotional feel of the author. Yes, it's impossible for a nondisabled person to fully know what Johnson's life is like. But her writing is so vibrant, so interesting and so funny that you can't help but feel as if you're in her world, sitting beside her and hearing her story for yourself.
If I hear one more time that Jeb Bush did more than any other politician did for Terri I may start saying unkind things. When someone is being murdered in cold, brutal blood in front of your eyes, that is the ONLY law being broken that needs to be addressed.
Jeb Bush is a coward and a hypocrite.
Look - is this thread on FreeRepublic to turn people away from the GOP?
I'm beginning to think the agenda here is not to change the laws but to ruin any political future of Jeb Bush.
If you remember - it was the lawmakers that refused to save Terri by not passing the bill that would have saved her.
It was the lawmakers that allowed the end-of-life laws to be progressively altered to allow this case against Terri to win.
It was the lawmakers that turned over their job of making laws to the end-of-life panel that progressively expanded the restrictions on ending life.
It is the law in Florida that even allows anyone to end another's life. There should be no law that says PVS or "no reasonable chance of recovery" means that tubes can be pulled and people starved to death.
There should be NO LAW IN FLORIDA that allows a friend or a neighbor to "say" that jane doe did not want to live if connected to tubes. Because - this allows the state to get rid of Jane Doe and distribute the assets.
Now - I don't remember the fact that the Governor or Florida writes laws.
And, I don't remember where the Governor of Florida has the authority to override all laws of the State of Florida.
Of course, if your agenda is to ruin a GOP candidate for other office - it would serve your purposes well to blame it on Bush.
But, don't expect to not be called on it.
That's the most vile thread I've seen on FR. I thought we had moderators that were supposed to prevent that kind of thing?? I hope the death culture hasn't taken over here.
They've locked the thread, their reason
"pain in the ass"
Yes it's true a guardian can remove "life prolonging procedures" which thanks to Jim King includes the feeding tube which many Floridians rely on on a daily basis.
I just went and looked because of a comment on the thread re the laws etc.
""""""
765.306 Determination of patient condition.--In determining whether the patient has a terminal condition, has an end-stage condition, or is in a persistent vegetative state or may recover capacity, or whether a medical condition or limitation referred to in an advance directive exists, the patient's attending or treating physician and at least one other consulting physician must separately examine the patient. The findings of each such examination must be documented in the patient's medical record and signed by each examining physician before life-prolonging procedures may be withheld or withdrawn.
""""""
That wasn't done. The guardianship statutes are a farce depending upon who the judge happens to be. Those statutes state removal of a guardian for "conflict of interest" although Jim King's office says it isn't in there.
Never mind the long list of acts of corruption detailed by the Empire Journal which could land a few folks in jail for obstruction or medicaid fraud.
I just don't understand that so many folks defend the breaking of laws. It is the emotional side of the argument that will defend a position which if researched well would not have been supported to begin with.
Yes we definitely need to change the laws in Florida but the ones we have weren't followed.
Sorry but I don't live my life according to GOP bylaws or platform.. the Bible is my only platform, and any politician that doesn't conduct himself from that base isn't worth my time. We aren't here to get the chosen ones elected... men are ALL sinners and fallible...
Rule 1: If an innocent is being murdered before your eyes, the only law that counts is God's law.. to heck with anyone's "political career"! God doesn't really care about that kind of thing, but how we act towards each other...
No, they haven't
8mm
Thanks
8mm
There is another thread on the topic, more tame, but with a second string of aggravators on scene.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1423508/posts?page=84#84
Remember the case where Ethel Kennedy's relative killed a woman (Stakel sp.?) in Connecticut with a gulf club??
Well, after Mark Fuhrman investigated and WROTE A BOOK about the case, the case was reopened and Ethel Kennedy's relative is now in jail.
Michael Schiavo has reason to worry.
Much better thread - thanks.
In response to Sean's question about strangulation, Mark said asphyxiation can be produced by the police headlock which leaves no mark--not fifteen minutes later, let alone fifteen years.
He said, "The timeline is not Michael's friend."
GOOD!
He and his sister are supposed to be on Hannity tonight, for those who may be interested in watching!
Yesterday You Wrote--->
" Amazon.com Sales Rank: #881 in Books "
Tonight - Silent Witness: The Untold Story of Terri's Schiavo's Death, Ranked at #71
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060853379/qid%3D1118748069/sr%3D2-2/ref%3Dpd%5Fbbs%5Fb%5F2%5F2/103-0638393-8772627
That's wonderful news. Thanks!!
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1423832/posts
The report itself
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1423841/posts#comment?q=1
Customers who bought this book also bought
It is telling.
8mm
My only problem with all of it? Being a Christian, it pains me to see anyone so vibrant , so alive, so committed to a cause profess to be an Athiest.
Terri will always stay alive in my memory, and that of many others. She was a devoted Catholic - strong in her Faith in The Lord, according to her family and friends - and I have no reason to doubt that.
However, this beautifully disturbing,activist, advocate woman, could go so much farther,if her heart was pierced by the love of The Lord, and she understood what she was truly fighting for.
Just my two cents.
My heart goes out to her, and all those like her, whom we - the 'able bodied' ones, should fight valiantly for.
May The Lord Bless them, and strengthen us in our fight for them. JK
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