The genial political humorist Art Buchwald, who we had the pleasure of meeting, has taken leave, but not without writing a sometimes humorous, sometimes macabre book, about his final days.
To his dismay, his kidneys decided to stop functioning, and, after giving dialysis a few tries, he declined to continue.
He checked into a hospice with the intention of accepting his end in comfort.
But, as biochemistry still has its inscrutable ways, his final moment declined to arrive.
Inexplicably, his kidneys began to work again and he was remanded to his home in Martha's Vineyard, where he was able to live out his last days.
Known by all and beloved by many, with the possible exception of a gallery of politicos he had lampooned to their lasting consternation, he tells us of the diligent care he received at the hospice and his starring role while there, dilating on the train of famous friends who visited him, including Tom Brokaw and Mike Wallace.
He also informs us of his fellow chatters in the Vineyard, including the late William Styron.
The book has its smiles and laughs, with tributes by some of the above-named and others at the end.
Never has a man indulged in the denial and acceptance of his own end with so much brio.
He gets to laugh last over and over.
We think you'll enjoy much that's in it and reflect that he did, after all, live to be 81.
Given how much pleasure he gave to readers and how much he see