Changing the Culture of End-of-Life Care: August Note From the President and CEO

From a painful topic few people wanted to discuss, and few lawmakers wanted to back, we’ve won the passionate support of people across the country.

Aug 18, 2021 newsletter

I had the pleasure earlier this month of participating in the making of the original cast album recording of Goodbye New York, a new musical by Andrew Beall (music), Evan McCormack (lyrics) and David Don Miller (book). You may recall, Andrew and Evan are the producers of Compassion & Choices’ own signature song, This is Your Show. 

The cast album, which should be completed this fall, is the next step in bringing this musical from concept to the stage, a process that takes years (perhaps as long as authorizing medical aid in dying in a state!). We’ll be sharing some of the songs from the musical during our fall signature event: Purpose, Power and Promise: A Virtual Celebration to Benefit Compassion & Choices.  

The event is being held on October 6, and one of our newest members of the African American Leadership Council, who we are featuring in this edition of the newsletter, Joél Simone Anthony, will be emceeing the event this year. Please save the date (October 6 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) and join us as we gather to celebrate our collective impact in powering the work of Compassion & Choices. You can register for the October event online now.

I’m also delighted to share our recent progress report of our work to foster greater diversity within the end-of-life care movement on our website. We are proud of these accomplishments but know our work has just begun.  

While I am excited to see the issue of end-of-life choice and care continuing to gain traction and attention in the media -- and delighted to be able to welcome amazing new talent like Joél Simone Anthony to our movement, it is so difficult to watch our dedicated advocates die, especially when they face laws or a health system that doesn’t support their preferred end-of-life option. 

In this issue we honor several of our storytellers who have recently died, who serve to remind us of the importance of our mission. May we continue to work as a community to realize greater humanity at life’s end for more terminally ill Americans.

In community,

Kim

@kimCallinan