Cicely Saunders was a great writer of letters. Indefatigable in her correspondence, she was equally happy dashing off the briefest of newsy notes, or setting out several pages of detailed text, full of insight and reflection. My acquaintance with her letters, built up over many years, was invaluable to me as I was writing her… Continue reading
My name is Franklin S. Santos, I am a geriatric doctor, and 11 years ago I started working in teaching, research and assistance in the areas of Thanatology and Palliative Care in Brazil. Since then, I have had the opportunity to organise courses and interdisciplinary books that address these issues. These books became a reference… Continue reading
I very much enjoyed reading David Clark’s biography of Cicely Saunders. It is eminently readable despite being published by an academic press and should appeal to all professionals who work with the dying and a wider public wanting to find out more about this complex, driven and inspirational woman. On a personal note there were… Continue reading
I recall learning of Cicely Saunders’ death in July 2005. It was morning in the Pacific Northwest and I was planning my day of home visits with hospice patients and families. I had greatly admired the woman who created and embodied an approach to care for dying that acknowledged the whole person as they were… Continue reading
One of Dame Cicely Saunders’ most enduring legacies is the importance of being present, of witnessing, at the end of life. Academic witnessing at the margins of life and death can require balancing an intense intimacy with simultaneously gaining enough distance to ‘see’ significant or representative broader concepts. What does this mean for us as… Continue reading
A few weeks ago I attended a Syrian Suppers fundraising event. It seemed a long way from my current interests in the life and legacy of Cicely Saunders, but just before leaving I was asked by an acquaintance about when my latest book was coming out. It was just one example among so many of… Continue reading
Cicely Saunders once stated that ‘suffering is only intolerable when nobody cares’. Yet suffering is a broad concept with many aspects. Members from the Glasgow End of Life Studies Group recently attended a two-day philosophy conference entitled ‘Suffering and Autonomy at the End of Life’. Speakers came from a range of academic disciplines – including… Continue reading
In 1961 Cicely Saunders, in a short article written for a general audience, observed: ‘A society which shuns the dying must have an incomplete philosophy’ [1]. The remark is loaded with import. In her observation, ‘the dying’, seem to constitute a known social category. Not only neglected, they are persistently avoided, ignored, or rejected through… Continue reading
