I’m going to put in a personal note here, after a fairly long absence.
British novelist Sir Terry Pratchett was one of my father’s favorite authors. In an odd coincidence, he was the first novelist I introduced him to rather than the other way around, with the release in the U.S.A. of The Light Fantastic while I was in high school. Craig took to it with enormous joy, and soon found that he couldn’t read the books on his daily commute – he would be unable to contain his laughter and would bother the other commuters with his howls. Instead, we agreed to read the books at home after dinner, both of us side by side with our own copies of the books and laughing hysterically as friends.
When the full strength of his illness became clear, one of the first things he did was go forth and purchase all the books again – he’d left his copies here in the States with me while he lived in the U.K. The comical fantasies still made him laugh, still brought him joy in the midst of his suffering.
Sir Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease some time ago. In August of this year, he spoke the the Daily Mail about his own desire to control his life, and death, with full dignity of the human spirit. In words that brought me greater pride than I can say, he referred to those sick and dying individuals who have accessed the legal suicide clinics of Europe as displaying “a furious sanity.”
“A furious sanity.” I can think of few more fitting epitaphs for Craig Ewert.
Sir Terry, thank you. Thank you for your words, for the bond you helped forge between a mopey adolescent and his father, for the joy you brought to us and the joy you brought to so many. I wish you many, many years of hope and joy ahead; and when the night comes, I wish you the best of all things in your passage through the doors.
You can read the article and Sir Terry’s words online at the Daily Mail, or you may wish to access his own site at http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk.