A stimulating must-read for mortals that will leave you equipped for a more peaceful, dignified, and meaningful end.

MedHum

As a physician for many years, I wish I had Chris Palmer's book Achieving a Good Death as a resource for my patients and families. He tackles head-on the practical issues we all face but shy away from dealing with them. Each of us deserves a dignified and meaningful end of life, and this book is a sure-fire guide to achieving that noble goal.

Kurt Newman, MD, president emeritus, Children's National Hospital, and author of Healing Children: A Surgeon's Stories from the Frontiers of Pediatric Medicine

Palmer, an astute and sensitive researcher, has culled, sorted, and presented the best from many evidence-based sources. He gives voice to unspoken fears like degradation, pity, and shame and adds valuable and original suggestions for ethical wills, legacy letters, memoirs, and eulogies from his expertise as a writer and storyteller. Bravo for this eminently helpful and deeply meaningful book.

Barbara Coombs Lee, author of Finish Strong: Putting Your Priorities First at Life's End, and president emerita/senior advisor, Compassion and Choices

With insightful prose and personal anecdotes, Palmer challenges the sanitized portrayal of death prevalent in media and confronts the taboo surrounding discussions about mortality. Readers are encouraged to embrace the reality of death as a natural part of life, empowering them to approach the end with dignity, agency, and peace. A thought-provoking, must-read that invites readers to contemplate the profound meaning of life and the importance of living fully until the very end.

Mikhail Kogan, MD, medical director, GW Center for Integrative Medicine, associate professor of medicine, and associate director of Geriatric Fellowship at George Washington University; author of Integrative Geriatric Medicine

Chris Palmer sheds light on the elusive 'good death' and provides solid, practical advice for how to take control and have agency in living and dying well. For those of us in the aging field, Palmer's book is a refreshing complement to his insightful workshops on death and dying. Achieving a Good Death belongs in everyone's personal library and should be shared with family and friends.

Barbara Hughes Sullivan, executive director, Village to Village Network

Chris Palmer has written an important and incredibly useful book designed to give the reader the skills and knowledge to live fully to the end of life and to have a good death. Everyone should read this book and imbibe its wisdom.

Steven Petrow, contributing columnist, The Washington Post, and author of Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old