Description
This book developed out of a series of broadcast interviews between a journalist and an academic specialist on education and ethics. The subject is dying; the educator, Bruce H. Kramer, was diagnosed in 2010 with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), a progressive, incurable, degenerative disorder that affects people in middle age and causes the body to waste away through slow paralysis. It is always fatal, usually within five years. The book is organized as a series of essays with material from each author in a different font (usually Wurzer introduces an essay by Kramer). The tone is less sentimental and more practical and reflective. It is designed to communicate to general readers the useful insights Kramer has found in continuing to live while the disease is in the process of ending his life. They will be especially useful to people who have recently had to face the realities of disability and mortality, but the book is clear this is also the human condition. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
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Nautilus Book Awards — Silver Award Winner2010 had been a very good year for Bruce H. Kramer. But what began as a floppy foot and leg weakness led to a shattering diagnosis: he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is a cruel, unrelenting neurodegenerative disease in which the body’s muscles slowly weaken, including those used to move, swallow, talk, and ultimately breathe. There is no cure: ALS is a death sentence.When death is a constant companion, sitting too closely beside you at the dinner table, coloring your thoughts and feelings and words, your outlook on life is utterly transformed. The perspective and insights offered in We Know How This Ends reveal this daily reality and inspire a way forward for anyone who has suffered major loss and for anyone who surely will. Rather than wallowing in sadness and bitterness, anger and denial, Kramer accepted the crushing diagnosis. The educator and musician recognized that if he wanted a meaningful life, then embracing his imminent death was his only viable option. His decision was the foundation for profound, personal reflection and growth, even as his body weakened, and inspired him to share the lessons he was learning from ALS about how to live as fully as possible, even in the midst of devastating grief.At the time Kramer was diagnosed, broadcast journalist Cathy Wurzer was struggling with her own losses, especially her father’s slow descent into the bewildering world of dementia. Mutual friends put this unlikely pair—journalist and educator—together, and the serendipitous result has been a series of remarkable broadcast conversations, a deep friendship, and now this book.Written with wisdom, genuine humor, and down-to-earth observations, We Know How This Ends is far more than a memoir. It is a dignified, courageous, and unflinching look at how acceptance of loss and inevitable death can lead us all to a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
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