Author and Anthropologist, Anita Hannig
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
3 p.m.
Admission: $10
Audience Limited to 30 attendees
at the Hoffman Center for the Arts
The Manzanita Writers’ Series is pleased to welcome author and anthropologist, Anita Hannig, to the Hoffman Center for the Arts on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at 3 p.m. She will be reading from her book; The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America.
In this groundbreaking book, award-winning cultural anthropologist Hannig brings us into the lives of ordinary Americans who go to extraordinary lengths to set the terms of their own death. Faced with a terminal diagnosis and unbearable suffering, they decide to seek medical assistance in dying—a legal option now available to one in five Americans.
Drawing on five years of research on the frontlines of assisted dying, Hannig unearths the uniquely personal narratives masked by a polarized national debate.
“Of all events in a lifetime, death is the most solitary, and yet most people have no control over it. In The Day I Die, Anita Hannig investigates assisted dying. Her portrayal of people who want to have a choice at the end of their lives is calm, balanced, and devastating.” — Sallie Tisdale, author of Advice for Future Corpses
Hannig is an associate professor of anthropology at Brandeis University, where she teaches classes on medicine, religion, and death and dying. Her work explores the cultural dimensions of medicine, with a particular focus on life’s bookends: birth and death. In recent years, she has emerged as a leading voice on death literacy in the United States, appearing on podcasts and at community events that tackle Americans’ changing relationship with death.
Her writing has appeared in Cognoscenti, The Conversation, The Seattle Times, and Undark Magazine, among others.
Find out more at anitahannig.com
After her reading, she, and local Life-Cycle Officiant, Claudia Johnson, will guide a discussion. Anita and Claudia can address and discuss questions that may arise and there are many able local folk who will also be willing to assist us in understanding this very important issue. Claudia recommends reading (or listening to) The Day I Die before the gathering if possible. Cloud & Leaf Book Store will have the book available for sale at the event.
We are currently planning an in-person event at the Hoffman Center for the Arts. Masks are optional but encouraged. If COVID infection rates rise precipitously, we will shift to an online meetup and registrants will be sent a Zoom link the day before the event.
Photo Credit: David Neff
Author Anita Hannig reads from her book The Day I Die, The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America
