 Jean's Way | |
| Author | Derek Humphry |
|---|---|
| Language | English and 8 languages |
| Subjects | Right to die Assisted suicide Voluntary euthanasia |
| Publisher | Norris Lane Press |
Published in English | 2003, latest printing |
| Media type | paperback and eBook |
| Pages | 160 |
| ISBN | 0-9637280-7-5 |
Jean's Way (originally subtitledA Love Story), a book byDerek Humphry, is an account of Humphry's terminally ill wife's planned suicide from suffering. The book is his first on the issue ofvoluntary euthanasia andassisted suicide.
Derek Humphry, a journalist on theLondon Sunday Times and author ofBecause They're Black, publishedJean's Way in 1978. The book became a bestseller in the UK,[citation needed] was translated into eight languages,[which?][citation needed] and has been reprinted 17 times.[citation needed]+
The 2003 printing in English byNorris Lane Press (ISBN 0-9637280-7-5) is 160 pages and includes a new full-color jacket and updated preface. The 2003 English edition is available in paperback and eBook formats.
Jean's Way translations have been published in Finland, Norway, Hebrew, Japan, Poland, Spain, Mexico, France, Turkey and Germany.[citation needed]
Jean Humphry was born Jean Edna Crane on March 23, 1932, in Hulme (Manchester), UK. Her family moved toWythenshawe, 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, inLangley Burrell, Wiltshire, as a consequence of breast cancer which had becomecarcinomatosis.
At the time of the first publication's first edition, not only was assisted suicide against the law, it was also highly taboo.
Jean Humphry had suffered for more than two years frombreast 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) abouteuthanasia andassisted suicide, which later became highly controversial as theright 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.
At Jean's request, Derek secured a lethal overdose from a sympathetic doctor and stored it in a secure place in their home in Wiltshire. When the pain and distress became too great to bear, Jean asked for the drugs so that she could die. When she was ready, Derek mixed the lethal potion into a mug of coffee. After saying, "Goodbye, my love" Jean downed the drink and died within the hour.
In Chapter 10,Is This the Day?, Derek describes her last day before her death.[1]
On publication of the book, British police asked Derek if it was true, and he signed a statement to the effect that it was. But theDirector of Public Prosecutions, who has discretion over assisted suicide laws, decided not to prosecute Derek.
The popularity ofJean's Way started the movement to legalizeassisted suicide as a choice for competent adults at the end of life. (Previously, the movement had concentrated solely on 'voluntary euthanasia' by direct injection.)
Derek founded theHemlock Society in 1980 to campaign for greater acceptance of justifiable assisted suicide and also wrote the international bestselling bookFinal Exit.
In 1990,Jean's Way became the basis for a dramatic stage play entitledIs This the Day? written byVilma Hollingbery. It had its world premiere at theRoyal Theatre in Northampton, UK, and had short runs in Germany and the USA.
The book foreshadowed theOregon Death with Dignity Act, which Derek pioneered in 1986 and as a team player worked for its eventual passage in 1994. In the application of both Oregon law andSwiss law, with legally approved ways of assisting deaths at the end of life, Jean's Way is the method used. InSwitzerland it is used byDignitas and EXIT, the Swiss society for humane dying.[2]
 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |