Art Buchwald, the inimitable newspaper columnist, is dying. A writer to the end, of course he writes a column about dying, which appeared in newspapers this week, on Tuesday, March 14….

Ordinarily, people don’t talk about death. Yet it’s very much a part of our lives. I’m in a hospice and seem to have a lot of time to talk about it. My friends and I discuss what death is and where we’re supposed to go after it happens.

People constantly ask me if there is an afterlife. It’s a good chance for me to philosophize. I tell them, “If I knew I would tell you.”

This does not mean that everyone knows more than I do on the subject, including priests (Christian and Hindu), rabbis and imams.

I haven’t made up my mind which one of these groups has the answer, but the nice thing about a hospice is we can talk about death openly. Most people are afraid that if they even mention it, they will bring bad karma on themselves….

He writes about dying with honesty and without sentiment. So maybe it isn’t art, but with his trademark wry humor, it’s worth reading the rest of this piece by Art. [Link]