Things I've Learned From Dying: A Book About Life

We all live with death, whether we realize it or not, whether we know and are pretending not to. David R. Dow lives with death in his job. He is a death penalty lawyer, fighting to overturn the death sentences of hundreds of convicts over the years. In his latest book, Dow interweaves his fight to save three lives and stave off death as long as he can. His latest client, his force-of-nature father-in-law, and his beloved family dog all face a relentless march toward death; it looms at every turn. In this poignant, yet never maudlin, account of these three stories, Dow shares with us, his frustrations, his elation at small victories, his hopes, and his acceptance and grief. The stories have abundant personal details of the author’s struggles and the struggles of his family and coworkers as they all try to stave off the inevitable. There are well recounted conversations that enhance all the real life characters who populate this book. Most touching are the conversations he has with his father-in-law and the written notes that he receives from this 60 year old man of science and letters. There is an abundance of wisdom encapsulated in these three stories that unfold nearly simultaneously. Not the least of which is a constant assessment of quality and quantity of life. There is a near constant push and pull between these two concepts as Dow explores and lives beside the struggle to pick the right balance. He wonders how long to keep fighting for one death row inmate and move on to another early enough to have a chance at a stay or overturn. His father-in-law and wife argue about the life extending treatments she wants her father to take and her father’s concern of his quality of life. Enmeshed in this is the struggles his wife and son have over the illness that is destroying the happy life of their family pet, a goofy and loyal Doberman. He and his wife try to save a dog what is chronically ill and clearly dying. This book is aptly subtitled, because, as Dow showed, how we die, how we regard death, how often we think of it, how often it dances past us, affects how we live our lives. This book about three deaths, teaches the reader about living. This is because, despite the surface subject matter, Dow tells us a story about life.