Being Mortal Community Conversation

The Canton Free Library, in partnership with Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley, will host a Community Conversation during this year’s Canton Winterfest.  The topic of this event is centered around the New York Times bestselling book, Being Mortal by Dr. Atul Gawande.

Medicine has undoubtedly triumphed in modern times, but when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. In this bestselling book, Atul Gawande fearlessly reveals the struggles of the medical profession and examines its ultimate limitations and failures as life draws to a close. Through eye-opening research and griping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering this dynamic has produced.  Being Mortal shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death, but a good life all the way to the very end.

Each of us should have the opportunity to express our wishes for our end of life care.  Join us in being part of a national conversation that brings medical professions and community members together around the shared responsibility of discussing what matters most to patients and families facing difficult treatment decisions and how to have these conversations ahead of a medical crisis.”

For more information call (315) 386-3712.  Copies of Being Mortal can be obtained through the North Country Library System.