shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com August 7, 2018 • Page 11 The Bookworm ‘Death Education’ Finds A Platform In New Book “Talking About Death Won’t Kill You.” by Kathy Kortes-Miller; © 2018, ECW Press; 209 pages ——— BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER Your mother can speak on just about any subject. Family issues, money, old music, new technology, cooking, fashion, she’ll teach you all day. Ask her about one certain topic, though, and her lips are sealed tight but with “Talking About Death Won’t Kill You” by Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller, you can school Mom on a thing or two. One year prior to her second goaround for a PhD program, Kathy Kortes-Miller received a diagnosis of cancer, which altered her life and her career path. Naturally, she was fearful. She said aloud that she didn’t want to die, and her statement was brushed aside. Nobody would even discuss death, she says, and though she obviously lived, she wishes today that someone had taken time to talk to her about her fears and the outcome she might’ve had. “Death education,” as she calls it, should never be ignored. We spend years getting an education, we spend months researching a car or a new home, but we spend very little time learning to die — and that’s unfortunate. Dying, she believes, is actually an important part of living, which is why you should have That Conversation. “Dying matters,” Kortes-Miller says, and until a few decades ago, that was a given; people were much more comfortable with death and the things attached to it. Death was a social event, as it is today, but it seems now as though we’re afraid to have a discussion about it, lest we invite it. The important thing is, everybody dies sometime so we may as well get comfortable with that. When having That Conversation, gently tease out whatever fears remain, and face them by becoming “death literate.” Talk about “advance care planning” and the legacy you want. Know that family relations are complicated and that a proxy may absolutely be necessary. Write down everything you want health-care providers to know. Don’t be afraid to involve children and don’t use euphemisms. And finally, new technology gives a twist to something as old as life itself. Know how to use it right. You don’t have to be elderly to get a lot out of “Talking About Death Won’t Kill You.” You don’t even have to be dying to read this book. Even if you’re healthy and in the bloom of life, Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller has plenty to teach you, including questions you can ask to dig deep into your own feelings on end-of-life matters, and a matter-of-fact passage on what happens when we pass. But this book isn’t only for consumers: physicians and health-care workers are given attention here, too, because Kortes-Miller indicates a not-always-fulfilled need for That Conversation in hospitals and hospice situations. There are chapters here for parents and for caregivers, for adult children, for CEOs, and for workbuddies. On the latter, Kortes-Miller helps employers to create a better, more compassionate workplace. This book probably isn’t anybody’s idea of a beach read, so grab it and grab opportunities for That Conversation. “Talking About Death Won’t Kill You” and, of course, neither will reading about it. New At The Library Here’s what’s new at the Yankton Community Library this week: Adult Books • Adjustment Day by Chuck Palahniuk; Fiction • Boardwalk Summer by Meredith Jaeger; Fiction • Campaign Widows by Aimee Agresti; Fiction • Clock Dance by Anne Tyler; Fiction • Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce; Fiction • The Girl I Used to Be by Mary Torjussen; Fiction • The Girlfriend by Sarah J. Naughton; Fiction • Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante; Fiction • A Handful of Ashes by Rob McCarthy; Fiction • He: A Novel by John Connolly; Fiction • Her Fear by Shelley Shepard Gray; Fiction • Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir; Fiction • The Mandela Plot by Kenneth Bonert; Fiction • The Other Mother by Carol Goodman; Fiction • Overkill by Ted Bell; Fiction • Regrets Only by Erin Duffy; Fiction • River to Redemption by Ann H. Gabhart; Fiction • The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst; Fiction • The Storm by Arif Anwar; Fiction • A Time of Love and Tartan by Alexander McCall Smith; Fiction • Time Was by Ian McDonald; Fiction • The Verdun Affair by Nick Dybek; Fiction • Asperger’s Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna by Edith Sheffer; Nonfiction • The Class of ’74: Congress After Watergate and the Roots of Partisanship by John A. Lawrence; Nonfiction • From Broken Glass: My Story of Finding Hope in Hitler’s Death Camps to Inspire a New Generation by Steve Ross; Nonfiction • How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job by Sally Helgesen & Marshall Goldsmith; Nonfiction • Period: Twelve Voices Tell the Bloody Truth; Nonfiction • Phoebe Apperson Hearst: A Life of Power and Politics by Alexandra M. Nickliss; Nonfiction • The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young; Nonfiction • The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home by Patrick K. O’Donnell; Nonfiction Adult DVDs • Call the Midwife (Season 7) • Chappaquiddick • I Feel Pretty • Isle of Dogs • A Quiet Place • Rampage • Ready Player One Young Adult Books • Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro; Fiction • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi; Fiction • A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas; Fiction • Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller; Fiction • Five Nights At Freddy’s (Books 1-3) by Scott Cawthon; Fiction • Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather; Fiction • Mars One by Jonathan Maberry; Fiction • Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter; Fiction • The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo; Fiction • A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir; Fiction • The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik by David Arnold; Fiction • Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno; Fiction • This is Our Story by Ashley Elston; Fiction • Who Are You, Trudy Herman? by B.E. Beck; Fiction • Getting Things Done (For Teens): Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World by David Allen; Nonfiction • LGBTQ + Athletes Claim the Field: Striving For Equality by Kirstin Cronn-Mills; Nonfiction • Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles by Jessica Burkhart (editor); Nonfiction Junior Books • Mrs. Smith’s Spy School For Girls: Power Play by Beth McMullen; Fiction • Speed of Life by Carol Weston; Fiction • Restart by Gordon Korman; Fiction • My Shot: Balancing It All and Standing Tall by Elena Delle Donne; Nonfiction • Rising Above: Inspiring Women in Sports by Gregory Zuckerman; Nonfiction • Survivor’s Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz by Michael Bornstein & Debbie Bornstein Holinstat; Nonfiction ——— Did you know that you can reserve an item from home? Staff will then notify you as soon as the item is available! MAKING LIFE MORE COMFORTABLE. Handicare Stairlifts Prairie View Industries Ramps Twilight Lift Chair Ron’s Auto Glass Home Auto Business Glass Repair & Replacement 605-665-9841 Reuse. Repurpose. Really Save! 1915 Broadway Street, Yankton www.ronsautoglass.com Congratulations Medi Compression Socks Take a fresh look at the Classifieds, the original way to shop green! Avera Sacred Heart Wound & Hyperbaric Treatment Center In Print and Online! Call 665-5884 THESE PRO DUCT IN AUGUS S T To talk with a home solution expert or purchase products, call 605-250-2186 or visit your local Avera Home Medical Equipment store at 1001 W. Ninth St., Yankton. Avera.org/home-medical-equipment 18-HMED-12170 The Yankton Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors hosted a ribbon cutting for the Avera Sacred Heart Wound & Hyperbaric Treatment Center at 409 Summit Suite 2500. The Avera Sacred Heart Wound & Hyperbaric Treatment Center is an advanced wound clinic that focusses on many different types of wounds. Their goal is to heal wounds quickly with the appropriate care and treatment. Hours of operation are 8am – 4:30pm. They can be contacted at 605-655-1710. 15% OFF