Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia [Hardcover]

Neal Nicol (Author), Harry Wylie (Author), Jack Kevorkian (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2006

    Dr. Jack Kevorkian—the enigmatic and intrepid physician dubbed "Dr. Death"—has for years declined public interviews about his life and the events that led him to be a vehement advocate of doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. But here, finally, is his own life story, as told to Neal Nicol and Harry Wylie.
    Dr. Kevorkian gained international notoriety in the 1990s for his passionate advocacy of choice for terminal patients, who have increasingly won the right to decide the time, place, and method of their own death in several western countries. In 1998, he assisted Thomas Youk, a terminally ill patient suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, with a lethal injection that was broadcast on CBS's 60 Minutes. Immediately thereafter, Kevorkian was arrested, charged with second-degree murder, tried, and sentenced to 10-25 years in Michigan's maximum-security prison system.
    Today, Dr. Kevorkian is in his late seventies and in failing health himself. He shares an eight-by-twelve-foot cell with another inmate in the Thumb Correctional Facility at Lapeer, Michigan. The unique story Prisoner Number 284797 shares far exceeds the battle to legalize euthanasia and end human suffering for terminal patients. "Personal choice is really what it is all about. Quality of life, as opposed to maintaining existence" (Kevorkian to Vanity Fair, 1994)

Co-published with Vision, U.K.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Any American who has watched this trial and this sentencing should be outraged. I don't believe that Dr. Kevorkian is a criminal, and I don't believe he should be put in prison."—Thomas Youk's brother, Terry, Detroit Free Press

About the Author

    Neal Nicol has been a friend and coworker of Dr. Kevorkian since 1961. He was a willing guinea pig in the doctor's research in cadaver blood transfusion and chromium 51 cell survival studies. His medical training as a corpsman and laboratory technician enabled him to assist Dr. Kevorkian on many occasions, while his laboratory supply company often provided materials necessary for Dr. Kevorkian's efforts. Nicol regularly visits Dr. Kevorkian in prison and continues to be a steadfast supporter of the right to die.
    Harry Wylie is a longtime friend and confidant of Dr. Kevorkian. Harry and his wife, Arlene, were Dr. Kevorkian's next-door neighbors and are two of the ten people on the doctor's prison visitation list. They visited him on a monthly basis for five years and now, residing alternately in Mexico and Canada, speak weekly with him by phone.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (May 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299217108
• ISBN-13: 978-0299217105
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #761,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars JACK KEVORKIAN--HIS SIDE OFTHE STORY, August 13, 2010

By 

James L. Park "James Leonard Park" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia (Hardcover)

Neal Nicol & Harry Wylie

Between the Dying and the Dead:

Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia

(Madison, WI: Terrace Books/University of Wisconsin Press, 2006) 273 pages

(ISBN: 0-299-21710-8; hardcover)

(Library of Congress call number: R726.N53 2006)

(Medical call number: WZ100K43n 2006)

This is an authorized biography of Jack Kevorkian,

written by two of his close friends and associates.

It is based on information provided by Dr. Kevorkian

and on their own personal experiences of some of the events described.

Before going into Kevorkian's family background and early life,

the first chapter deals with the death of Thomas Youk,

which was the last death Jack Kevorkian assisted with,

and which sent him to jail in 1999 for 10-25 years,

convicted of second-degree murder.

(Kevorkian was ultimately released after only 8 years.)

Tom Youk was dying from ALS

and by the time he called upon Dr. Kevorkian for assistance,

he could not operate any device that would cause his death.

Therefore, Dr. Kevorkian agreed to give him a lethal injection.

Most of the safeguards Kevorkian had advanced for others

were simply skipped because the need for relief was so immediate.

Instead of waiting for a week for Youk and his family to think it over,

Kevorkian agreed to go back the next day to aid Tom Youk in his voluntary death.

This death was clearly chosen by the patient,

even tho he could do nothing to bring about his own death.

But none of the people involved considered voluntary death by dehydration,

which would have been a completely legal choice.

Even a patient who literally cannot lift a finger

but who is still mentally able to make medical decisions

could decide to give up all food and water.

And all who are around such a patient

would witness that it was a truly voluntary choice,

reaffirmed perhaps 100 times before death comes 7-10 days later.

Several other deaths assisted by Dr. Kevorkian are discussed briefly.

In retrospect, even Jack Kevorkian probably would agree

that it would have been better for him to follow some of his own safeguards

rather than spending 8 years of his life in Michigan prisons.

It might have taken as much as a week to fulfill the most relevant safeguards.

With such documents available

--proving that each death was a wise, end-of-life medical choice--

the prosecutor would probably never have considered bringing charges.

And even if there were a trial, the overwhelming evidence of the fulfilled safeguards

would have convinced even the most skeptical judge and/or jury

that this death was wisely chosen, that it was:

a benefit to the patient, rational, well-planned, & admirable.

All who follow in Kevorkian's footsteps should learn from his mistakes.

Do more preparation before the death, making sure it is a wise choice,

rather than arguing fine points of the law after the death.

This reviewer believes that all 26 of his recommended safeguards

could have been fulfilled in the Thomas Youk case.

The facts about his physical illness were never in dispute.

They just were not admissible in this last trial

because both Jack Kevorkian and the prosecutor

agreed to drop the charge of assisting a suicide.

I found this quite an interesting book to read.

Others who have heard only critical comments about Jack Kevorkian

might want to read the other side of the story.

This book was used as backgroud for the video documentary

"You Don't Know Jack".

If you would like to discover other interesting books,

search the Internet for: "Books on the Right-to-Die".

James Leonard Park, advocate of the right-to-die with careful safeguards.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Jack Kevorkian is HUMAN, May 12, 2011

By 

InYourFaceNewYorker (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia (Hardcover)

It wasn't until the film "You Don't Know Jack" was released that the public got to see that Dr. Jack Kevorkian was more than just "Dr. Death." in "You Don't Know Jack" we saw that he was "human", with his strengths and weaknesses and passions. This book delves into greater detail in that regard. We learn about his childhood. Even as a boy he was far ahead of his time, wondering why his intelligent sisters shouldn't get the same educational opportunities as he. I doubt very many boys in the '30s/'40s thought about gender equality, but Kevorkian did. We feel a little sad as we learn about his somewhat lonely teenage years and also cheer him on because he was determined not to "fit in"; he continued to be a fiercely independent spirit. We learn about his research on retinas at the moment of death, his advocacy of optional organ donation by condemned criminals, and experiments involving transfusing cadaver blood to needy humans. Unfortunately, society had and still has visceral reactions of disgust to these things, deeming them disgusting and morbid. He ran into one brick wall after another in his research.

At last we read about his assisted suicide advocacy. We learn about this remarkably brilliant, multi-talented man who has social problems and and a childlike naivety (I wonder if he has Asperger's syndrome?). Indeed, we see how, just like everyone else, he is complicated. He is not the one-dimensional cutout that the media (Fox News especially) has made him out to be. We see that he is a compassionate and intense person and one of the greatest minds of the past hundred years. And, of course, we want to put our fist through the wall at the travesty of justice that was his incarceration and how he nearly died in prison.

This is a wonderful book about Kevorkian's life and it also includes photographs. The only drawback is this book wasn't updated to reflect that he was released from prison; it was written when it looked like he was going to die, presumably by suicide before his Hepatitis C killed him.

2.0 out of 5 stars Why is there not a good book on Kevorkian?, January 18, 2012

By 

James J. Pateakos - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia (Hardcover)

WHY? When I bought this book, I was hoping that it would be an in depth look at Kevorkian, his medicides and the people behind the scenes. It was none of that. While the book is not terribly bad, I skipped through more than half of it. It's just amazing to me that this man has not been written about more. Hoping someday to find a good book on him. The HBO Movie was far better than the book, as rare as that is.