"The Good Short Life" By: Dudley Clendinen

In, “The Good Short Life”, Dudley Clendinen wrote about the end of his life while suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was an author and editor with various publications who died at the age of sixty-seven. This essay was written to discuss the inevitable death all people face, and to show that it must not be feared or hated, but celebrated for the fulfilled life and liberation death brings. Throughout his life, Clendinen has faced many difficult times such as his divorce caused by his homosexuality up until his shortened life. In the essay, he writes his personal thoughts of his death and uses similes to describe his disease, “it feels like anxious butterflies, trying to get out” (Clendinen 63). This allows readers to understand and visualize his daily life, what he feels everyday so they can connect to his story and understand his purpose of accepting death. The audience this essay focuses on is a mature person that is trying to diminish their fear of death. Often writing in brief, simple sentences, his writing style suggests that the essay was went to be straight forward; with only limited time left he chose not to embellish his point, simply to state and defend it. In order to encourage people to live life to the fullest so when death comes around it can be welcomed and embraced rather than feared, Clendinen connects to the audience and allows them to see into his life and understand his experiences. He then explains why he has chosen to accept death rather than suffer through the ugliness of Lou Gehrig’s disease. The purpose was not to encourage people to avoid painful deaths by coming up with alternative plans, but to understand that death cannot be avoided, and ready or not it will come one day. He wanted people to understand his views of death, and that is exactly what this essay allowed him to do.

Life's Truths
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