Intimations of mortality
Sir: This letter is long overdue and might never have been written had not I, coming back from a long trip, rediscovered Lord Jock Bruce-Gardyne's remarkable article of last summer reprinted in your 21 April memorial to that fine man.
Last summer I was undergoing a course of chemotherapy and feeling particularly despondent about things in general. Amer- ica, and in particular California with its devotion to gurus and health and fitness fanatics, has a general aversion to anything smacking of mortality. Since I am still fairly young, I was thus finding it quite difficult to come to terms with events.
Lord Bruce-Gardyne's article changed all that. It was so calm, so rational, so exactly how things should be in those circumstances. `If he can do it, so can I,' thought I. And he did, and I did.
I mourn a man I never met, but I am still here and plan to be so for a long time to come. I thank you for reprinting an impor- tant essay.
Annette Campbell-White
Pier 33 South, San Francisco, California, USA
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