The concern of George Soros, the billionaire financier, for improving the American way of death came from a personal experience. His beloved father, who had saved the family from the Nazis, died in 1968, and Soros recalls that he did not even hold his hand. "I refused to face the fact that he was dying. I think it was a tragic mistake on my part. I think our whole society is somehow operating in a state of denial and distortion. We have been told all about sex, but very little about dying."
After his father's death, Soros read Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's books on dying and as a result he approached his mother's death very differently. She died quietly at home, surrounded by her family. "She was a believer, and she actually saw the gates of heaven. It was a very touching thing. I was holding her hand, and she described it to me. She got very worried. She didn't want to take me with her. Very touching. I said, 'Don't worry, my feet are on the ground.' That was when she lost consciousness."
After her death, in 1994, Soros gathered at his home a group of professionals concerned with issues of death. The group decided to put together an organisation called the Project on Death in America. Soros wrote it a cheque for $15 million.
The Project now has 38 faculty scholars in 31 medical schools in the US and Canada. It is hoped that they will become role models and help persuade other doctors to change their approach to pain, depression and other death-related issues.
Kathleen M. Foley, M. D., Director, Project on Death in America, Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th St, New York, NY 10019, USA (tel 212 757 2323; fax 212 548 4679; e-mail: mcallaway@sorosny.org ; web: www.soros.org/death.html).
This webpage forms part of the Global Ideas Bank (www.globalideasbank.org).
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