Editorial Reviews  
Amazon.com  
Hospice leader N. Michael Murphy explores the spiritual lessons about living that only death can offer. "The wisdom of dying urges that the roles and masks of everyday life be set aside before it is too late since they often obscure the giving and receiving of caring and love," Murphy explains in his introduction. Murphy's visionary approach to dying includes chapters on witnessing and participating in the life stories of the dying. In these precious personal and family stories, the lessons of living can be passed on, he explains. Hospitals would be transformed, he continues, if family members, doctors, and nurses gathered around a dying or deceased person, lit candles, and told stories of how that person affected their lives. In other chapters, he exposes how funeral homes and death rituals are designed to deny death rather than embrace it as a meaningful extension of life. He also discusses the specifics of caring for a dying person--including the stages of dementia and coma. This is an astute and comforting guidebook for living and dying with soul and dignity. As Thomas Moore writes in the preface, "Read it and live. Read it and die." --Gail Hudson 

Book Description  
Death catches us unprepared. Overwhelmed by not knowing what to do or say, we may hold our breath until it passes, only to be consumed later with regrets and suffering that we pass on down through generations. Michael Murphy's approach to death is both astounding and compelling in its simplicity. Abundant with fascinating references to ancient myth and legend, essentially it suggests a return to the celebration of joy in death, of the ritual and passion central to the traditional Irish wake with... 

About the Author  
N. Michael Murphy M.D. began his career as a family practitioner in the UK after medical training in Ireland. He is a clinical professor in both the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Family Practice at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York. He is also the founder of a pioneering hospice in Albany, and runs workshops and lectures in the United State, Belgium, Holland and Ireland.