Waiting to Die

Ken Ring was the founding President of the International Association for Near Death Studies and author of a number of books on the topic. I first met him with Caroline Myss in Connecticut in 1984 - and his vibrant personality made an immediate impression. His first two books, Life at Death and Heading toward Omega helped to define the field, and I read them avidly. Here, 35 years on, he has lost none of his love of life and humour as one can appreciate reading these essays about waiting to die in the light of his research work. His descriptions of bodily ailments and the general infirmities of old age are graphic and telling, but the importance of the book lies in his gentle wisdom and the reminder of what is really important in life, which he first learned from interviewing near death experiencers - as one of them put it, it is love and (spiritual) knowledge. Along the way, we learn of the impact of a mescalin experience in demolishing his previous ontological categories and how he responds to the atheist viewpoint of writers like Philip Roth and Julian Barnes. He distils his rules for ageing and living to 14 key points - including eating as much dark chocolate as possible - ending with the quip that we should not fret about following the rules as we are all human 'especially you'. An uplifting and refreshing read.