Jean's Way
Jean's Way
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| Author | Derek Humphry |
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| Language | English and 8 languages |
| Subject | Right to Die / Assisted Suicide |
| Publisher | Norris Lane Press |
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Published in English
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2003, latest printing |
| Media type | paperback and eBook PDF |
| Pages | 160 |
| ISBN | |
Jean's Way (originally subtitled A Love Story), a book by Derek Humphry, is an account of Humphry's terminally ill wife's planned suicide from suffering. The book is Derek Humphry's first book on the issue of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Derek Humphry, a journalist on the London Sunday Times and author of Because They're Black, published Jean's Way in 1978. The book became a bestseller in the UK, was translated into eight languages, and has been reprinted 17 times.+
The 2003 printing in English by Norris Lane Press () is 160 pages and includes a new full-color jacket and updated preface. The 2003 English edition is available in paperback and eBook PDF formats.
Jean's Way translations have been published in Norway, Japan, Poland, Spain, Mexico, France, Turkey and Germany.
Jean Humphry was born Jean Edna Crane on March 23, 1932, in Hulme (Manchester), UK. Her family moved to Wythenshawe, a Manchester suburb, where Jean received a public school education. In 1951 Miss Crane was appointed 'Miss Wythenshawe', a volunteer task ceremoniously to open fetes, flower shows and exhibitions as the district had no Mayor. On May 4, 1953, Jean married Derek Humphry in Manchester. They had three sons, one adopted. She died March 29, 1975, in Langley Burrell, Wiltshire, as a consequence of breast cancer which had become carcinomatosis.
At the time of the first publications' first edition, not only was assisted suicide against the law but it was also a huge taboo.
Jean Humphry had suffered for more than two years from breast cancer, which spread throughout her whole body, as described in the first nine chapters. She decided it was her time for an assisted death, and proceeded with her plan so that she could die in peace and dignity in her own home rather than in hospital. This was an individual decision; the couple did not know then (1975) about euthanasia and assisted suicide, which later became highly controversial as the right to die issue mushroomed. Living Wills were then just becoming known.
Some nine months earlier the couple had made a pact at Jean's instigation that she could take her life if she wished if the final weeks were unbearable to her. Jean had stipulated that she would only do it with Derek's agreement.
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Wikipedia