DEATH BE NOT PROUD

by John Gunther ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 3, 1949

On the carrying power of John Gunther's name, we are placing this book in this section, not, however, without a contraindication that its story, that of a ""long, invincible struggle between a child and Death"", is one that may dissuade many. The simplicity here, the restraint which is not without feeling, the often dispassionate directness of this record of his son's desperate determination to live, make this even more affecting, often to the point of agony. This traces, scrupulously, scientifically, the fourteen months which began with the diagnosis of Johnny Gunther's brain tumor, led to the first, immediate operation by a leading surgeon in the East, continued through all the treatments and therapies they tried in attempting to stall a hopeless brain cancer, hoping for a reprieve from the verdict of death. But particularly moving is the portrait of the boy through all this: his courage in the face of many painful procedures; his awareness (admitted only to his doctors- not his parents) of what might ensue; his insistence on completing his senior school year from hospital beds, which was accomplished as he was graduated with his class at Deerfield; the passionate love of science- and his many experiments, and the realization that death was closing in on him- ""I have so much to do. And there's so little time."" A selection of Johnny's letters, excerpts from his diary, and a postlude from his mother- Frances- complete the volume which is not only a memorial to the boy, but also a testament of valor which is often close to heartbreak.

Pub Date: Feb. 3, 1949

ISBN: 0061230979

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1948

Categories: NONFICTION