|
|
Article: It's your funeral... The courage with which great men such as Robert Louis Stevenson faced death is an inspiration to biographer Philip Callow.
- Article from:
- The Mail on Sunday (London, England)
- Article date:
- January 13, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: SUE CORRIGAN
Despite my advanced age and the evidence of death all around me, I'm still not convinced that it's going to happen to me. It's laughable, I know, but part of me still believes death is something that happens only to other people. When we are young, we feel immortal, and that's perfectly natural, but to feel it at 70 is absurd. Yet I do.
I wonder if this inability to accept the inevitable is commonplace. It's a very strange thing - a very strong, fundamental survival instinct that's built into the human psyche.
Thirty years ago, in the throes of a serious mental breakdown, I considered killing myself. But even the worthless ...