Author(s): Andrew Anastasios

Biographies / Memoirs

We're all dying. Sooner or later we're going to croak, kick the bucket, give up the ghost, cash in our chips, shuffle off, bow out or go to our happy hunting ground. It's the one thing we all have in common. Yet no one seems to want to talk about it. Well, the people at Pilotlight do.

This little book seeks to break the silence around death and dying and stimulate a discussion that genuinely connects people on the most profound level, not as experts, but as people with the same dreams, hopes, fears and concerns. Dying to Know offers a series of thought buds that reflect on bringing death to life - practical information, quirky facts and humble suggestions that lift the lid on death - planning a personalised funeral; telling people you love them while they are alive rather than waiting to write a memorial notice; taking round a meal for a family overcome with loss; donating organs; creating online memorials; writing an emotional will in which you leave things of the heart rather than your material property; things to do before you die and a host of other topics. Each is presented in a double-page spread and each succeeds in empowering, inspiring and, at times, amusing the reader. The book is also designed as a resource that links the reader to a vast range of services and organisations - from support for people with cancer to statutory information about Wills.

But Dying to Know is not a book with all the answers. Just ideas, insights, advice and inspiring illustrations about a subject none of us can escape. Read it and then rush into the daylight to get on with the more challenging matter of living.