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PEOPLE AND PETS was the theme of a program, at the N. Van. Library on Saturday. Here Lyle Hutcheson, 3, and

Franziska Bichler, 11, take a closer look at a guinea pig. A representative from a local pet shop was there to answer
questions. (Ian Smith photo)

erence looks at death

By ELIZABETH SCOTSON

When my favourite
aunt died, after a long
and cruel battle with

cancer, dozens of
people and hundreds of
floral tributes

honoured her passing.

There was also a lot of
talk about her grace and
goodness, but it seemed to
me — then a mere child —
that no one mentioned
death. In my innocencc, |
asked “Did she know she was
going to die?”

The only reply was an
awful silence. Then someone
whispered “Hush, dear, you
don't talk about things like
that,” and ushered me out of
the room. I spent days and
months after that wondering

Sponsored-by living and learning

why people (most of all the
dying) couldn't talk about
one of the most important
events in their lives.

Things have improved
since then, thanks largely to
the work of Elizabeth

Kubler-Ross, such films as
‘Love Story,’ and recent TV
documentaries. Now, death,
dying and grief are no longer
taboo as topics” for
discussion.

Viewpoints and attitudes,
however, still vary widely.
That is where a unique
conference pioneered by the
North Shore Living and
Learning Centre may prove
invaluable.

“People are more willing
to discuss death, and open
up their feelings about it
these days” says Dr. John
Stewart, director of the
centre and a participant in

the programme. “The time
seemed ripe for the course.”

The ‘Death and Grief
Conference’ is believed to be
the first of its kind, open to
the public as well as
professional people, in this
area. It will be held at West
Vancouver United Church
on two Saturdays, April 12
and 26, at $10 for each day.
Those interested in at-
tending may register for
either or both sessions.

The opening discussion,
led by psychologist Denis
Boyd, will cover dying and
one's own death, followed by
workshops on the hospice
movement, and funcrals.

Others will look at doctor-
patient’ relationships, the
impact of cancer, and on
April 26, grief, and the
deaths of young people.

All sessions will be led by

experts, including Rev. Clif
Henning, Dr. , Marlene
Hunter, Josephine Hannay
R.N., and Elsie Palmer,
widow and founder of the
L.1.F.E. resource centre for
the bereaved.

A cancer patient, Len
Newton, will talk about a
positive approach to illness,
and Susan Hogman and
Joanne Kannert, two nurses
now working with ‘Coping
with Cancer’ clubs” will
explore coping with death.

The conference is open to
professional and volunteer
helpers in these fields, and to
anyone who may be dealing
with death and grief in a
personal way and would
welcome further exploration
of their meanings.

For more = information,
phone the centre at 926-
5495.

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