{"id":6948,"date":"2022-03-20T22:44:10","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T14:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peacefulpillhandbook.com\/?p=6948"},"modified":"2022-03-20T22:45:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T14:15:22","slug":"acclaimed-writer-annah-faulkner-leaves-literary-suicide-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euthanasia.net\/pph\/acclaimed-writer-annah-faulkner-leaves-literary-suicide-note\/","title":{"rendered":"Acclaimed Writer Annah Faulkner Leaves Literary Suicide Note"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acclaimed Writer Annah Faulkner Leaves Literary Suicide Note<\/strong><\/p>\n

Annah Faulkner’s final non-fiction writing in the form of her suicide note is poignant, thought-provoking, life-affirming and tragic.<\/em><\/p>\n

It tells of a plea for the rational elderly to be better understood and respected in their end-of-life decision making.<\/em><\/p>\n

To read Annah Faulkner is to understand the work of Exit International and her recently coined term ‘self-compassionate elected death’.<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘An Open Letter to Australia, and the World’<\/h3>\n

by<\/h3>\n

Annah Faulkner<\/h3>\n

My husband\u2019s slippers lie on the floor beside his chair.<\/p>\n

But he has gone. He died last year.<\/p>\n

Immediately, I wanted to follow. However, wanting to give God or fate a chance, it was a few months before I realised if I wanted death, I\u2019d have to organise it myself.<\/p>\n

My desire to die is not a dummy-spit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t wilted, baulked at challenges or been reclusive.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent exhaustive months wrestling with our finances which are healthy enough for a comfortable lifestyle.<\/p>\n

I am past the shock of initial grief. I am sad but sadness hasn\u2019t prevented me from accepting all invitations and being (after the first few months) good company, as well as enjoying those I\u2019m with.<\/p>\n

I read, do jigsaw puzzles and help my friends with their projects. I go for walks, smell roses (literally), and appreciate the splendour of our magnificent, though ransacked planet.<\/p>\n

I am grateful for friends and for the life I\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n

But whatever meaning I derived from that life, including past work, interests and hobbies, disappeared with Alec.<\/p>\n

The best analogy I can summon is it\u2019s as if I\u2019m sitting in<\/strong> an empty classroom, waiting for a teacher<\/strong> who has gone, and will never return.<\/p>\n

My life is over, and for me, that is perfectly okay.<\/p>\n

There is nothing left I want to do.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been rich and full, with three careers, extensive travel and wonderful experiences.<\/p>\n

\"Acclaimed<\/a>

Annah Faulkner<\/p><\/div>\n

I have given serious consideration to what life might be like if I chose to live on. I am not a group person but I have investigated various groups and all manner of voluntary work.<\/p>\n

Palliative care, I feel, would be worthwhile but for various rules and reasons all I could get was housekeeping. No reading to, listening to or chatting with patients.<\/p>\n

In planning to take my life, I have weighed five things:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friends, conscience, circumstances, will and wish.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m nearly 73. I have no children or grandchildren, my only family is a brother whom I love but rarely see. I have beautiful friends, but not in quantity, and those I have are scattered across three states.<\/p>\n

Most are older, and likely to die before me. Loneliness, already all-consuming, will bite even harder. Taking my own life will cause great distress to those who love me, and I truly and deeply regret that.<\/p>\n

But I cannot live solely for purpose of protecting other\u2019s feelings. My wishes, and my will, at a profoundly deep level, are for release.<\/p>\n

But \u2026 How?<\/p>\n

Sleeping tablets are not what they used to be.<\/strong> No overdosing with a bottle of Nembutal.<\/p>\n

No fewer than 2,400 temazepam are needed to kill yourself, and even then, it\u2019s not guaranteed. You might finish up a vegetable.<\/p>\n

Despite suicide being legal in Australia, our authoritarian overlord<\/strong>s will do everything possible to deny the questor a peaceful death, forcing him or her into a grubby and brutal exit.<\/p>\n

Nembutal, the drug which has peacefully seen off thousands of animals, is forbidden to humans.<\/p>\n

Exit International<\/strong>, the organisation to which I belong and am hugely grateful, has no legal or practical ability to offer Nembutal to its members.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it warns that virtually all on-line sites offering the drug are scams, making it virtually impossible to obtain at all, let alone import (illegally) into Australia.<\/p>\n

This forces people like me into desperate and desolate alternatives: hanging, poisoning, falling before a train, slitting my wrists, crashing my car, overdosing on heroin or methamphetamines, if I can get them.<\/p>\n

\"Acclaimed<\/a><\/p>\n

Further, many of these gruesome options risk incomplete transition. In other words, a life of paraplegia, brain damage, psychiatric institutions where drugs aplenty will keep you nearly comatose but not let you die.<\/p>\n

Society deems life sacrosanct (I\u2019m not talking about abortion \u2013 that\u2019s another conversation altogether), its right enshrined in locked-and-bolted law, but the right to death \u2013 the most inevitable part of life, is denied \u2013 both as a choice and, increasingly, as a natural process.<\/p>\n

People flap and squawk in the face of suicide:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody should have done Something to stop it!\u201d Why? What is the virtue of keeping me alive against my will? Life is not sacrosanct at the cost of joy.<\/p>\n

What should be protested is people not being allowed to die in compassionate ways when they choose to do so.<\/p>\n

Society, and religion \u2013 which generally reflects its society \u2013 deem suicide wrong; a thoughtfully-considered desire to die some kind of moral malignancy.<\/p>\n

The grieving widow is a clich\u00e9. Legions of psychologists\/psychiatrists\/counsellors will diagnose grief-induced depression.<\/p>\n

Yet I am not a cliche.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am the only person in the world who truly understands me.<\/p>\n

Not everyone who wants to die is mentally unhinged.<\/p>\n

No individual or group has the spiritual or moral authority to dictate how and when people should die.<\/p>\n

Suicide will continue, and ever-tightening laws will make it ever more bloody.<\/p>\n

Nembutal, which puts you peacefully to sleep and you die, is Public Enemy No. 1.<\/strong> Why \u2013 when suicide is legal?<\/p>\n

Glimpse my future:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unavoidable physical and\/or mental decline.<\/p>\n

Pain, maybe dementia, loss of competence, incontinence, friends and independence disappearing.<\/p>\n

My current living arrangements are not physically sustainable and I will finish up in either a small unit with in-home care, or a nursing home.<\/p>\n

These prospects, for me, represent a living hell. I do not want to become an old lady forced to endure a life of ever-decreasing quality, in addition to clogging up an already clogged health system, and if that smacks of self-pity, I\u2019m annoyed with my skills as a communicator.<\/p>\n

A society that bans one of the few peaceful deaths available is neither compassionate nor liberal.<\/p>\n

Australia, congratulating itself on being democratic and open, is starched rigid<\/strong> with laws.<\/p>\n

Calm, constructive conversations around self-compassionate, elective deaths are ridiculously overdue, yet so many people to reel back in horror. Why? Death is not the enemy. Fear and ignorance are our enemies.<\/p>\n

Massive efforts go into keeping people alive, yet not a single, compassionate way allows them to die by choice.<\/p>\n

A decision to die \u2013 mine, anyway \u2013 is not failure.<\/p>\n

It is not a failure of friendship, vigilance, society or of me. I am not a pathology in want of treatment.<\/p>\n

Any discomfort around my death belongs to others.<\/p>\n

Most people want to live long lives, especially those with families. I completely understand and support this aspiration, but I ask in return that they recognise that for whatever reason, some people \u2013 sick or not \u2013 have had enough.<\/p>\n

There are more of us than you might think. Armies of older people are appalled and terrified by their inability to choose when to die.<\/p>\n

In advocating for the legalisation of Nembutal<\/strong> I\u2019m not suggesting unobstructed access, instant hand-outs based on impulsive decisions. (Youth suicide is not the subject of this discussion, it\u2019s an entirely different conversation.)<\/p>\n

I speak for people who, like me, have lived long and well, have reflected deeply on their reasons for wanting to die, and understand the consequences of their decision, especially on those who love them.<\/p>\n

My quest is for Access and Process.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Access<\/strong> to an elective, peaceful death, and processes which allow me to discuss my decision with the people I love.<\/p>\n

At the moment, such is the current general (unhealthy) abhorrence of death, someone would try to stop me, and if they didn\u2019t, they could be charged with aiding me.<\/p>\n

My husband was my best mate, intelligent, philosophical, engaging and vibrant, my greatest love and champion.<\/p>\n

But what really set him apart was his capacity for forgiveness and an absolute unwillingness to judge.<\/p>\n

If not for my friends at Exit International<\/strong> I would be unspeakably lonely.<\/p>\n

Ironically, I have never met a more vibrant, funny, intelligent, alive group of people<\/strong> in my life.<\/p>\n

Many, if not most, simply want the certainty of being able to die if and when they choose. Most will not choose, yet that option makes life feel more precious to them.<\/p>\n

As much as it is possible to understand anyone else, they understand me. They do not judge. They neither encourage nor discourage me.<\/p>\n

They hold me in their love. But if they dare hold my hand while I die, they will be charged with assisting in my death.<\/p>\n

A compassionate society does not deny its citizens the right to choose.<\/p>\n

Please, dismantle Australia\u2019s sanctimonious, outdated and cruel laws and make this society a wise and kind one. Let me die in peace. Legalise Nembutal.<\/p>\n

Annah Faulkner<\/p>\n

8th March, 2022<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

About Annah Faulkner – Awards<\/h3>\n

Last Day in the Dynamite Factory<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2015 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Readings Prize for New Australian Literature (Shortlist)<\/p>\n

The Beloved<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2011\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Queensland Premier\u2019s Literary Award\u00a0for Emerging Queensland Writer (Winner)<\/p>\n

2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 FAW Christina Stead Award (Commended)<\/p>\n

2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Miles Franklin Literary Award (Shortlist)<\/p>\n

2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nita B Kibble Award – (Winner)<\/p>\n

Unpublished Work<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2002 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Marian Eldridge Award (Winner)<\/p>\n

2007 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Varuna\/Longlines Award (Winner)<\/p>\n

2010 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Varuna\/Penguin Fellowship (Shortlist)<\/p>\n

Hachette Manuscript Development (Shortlist)<\/p>\n

2011 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Varuna\/Pan Macmillan Fellowship (Winner)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

About Annah Faulkner – Books & Writings<\/h3>\n

Seasons of Eden<\/em> – Excerpts from novel-in-progress<\/p>\n

\u200bPublisher:\u00a0 The Chicago Quarterly Review, April 2020<\/p>\n

The Blood of Others<\/em> – Extended Short Fiction<\/p>\n

Publisher: Antipodes, The North American Journal of Australian Literature<\/p>\n

Frankly Speaking<\/em> (Novella – Humor)<\/p>\n

Publisher:\u00a0 Annah Faulkner, writing as Annie Forsythe<\/p>\n

The Beloved<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Published 2012 by Picador<\/p>\n

Last Day in the Dynamite Factory<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Published 2015 by Picador<\/p>\n

About Annah Faulkner<\/a> – Biography<\/h3>\n

‘Acclaimed Writer Annah Faulkner Leaves Literary Suicide Note’<\/p>\n

Annah<\/a> was born in Melbourne and grew up in New Guinea.<\/p>\n

Her years there during the 1950s and 1960s provide the background for her first novel, The Beloved<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Annah started writing when she was 14, with bursts of poetry and the occasional short story.<\/p>\n

After seven years working in\u00a0airline industry she trained for four years in Traditional Chinese Medicine.<\/p>\n

Fascinated by energy in all its forms, she specialised in acupuncture.<\/p>\n

She and her family moved to the Sunshine Coast in the early 1990s, where she opened a practice.<\/p>\n

A desire to convey the effects of emotions on disease to the lay-person led her to her first substantial work of writing, a non-fiction manual from the traditional Chinese medical perspective.<\/p>\n

In 2000, she wrote and published a short humorous biography, Frankly Speaking<\/em>. The first print run of 1,500 sold quickly and a second followed in 2001.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In 2007, \u00a0a 5,000 word story, The Blood of Others<\/em>, was purchased and published in Antipodes<\/em>, the North American Journal of Australian Literature<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, early versions of The Beloved<\/em> had won the Marian Eldridge Award for Australian Women Writers and the Varuna\/Macquarie Bank Longlines Award.<\/p>\n

It was shortlisted for two publisher fellowships (Hachette and Penguin) and in 2011, was awarded a Varuna\/Pan Macmillan publisher fellowship.<\/p>\n

Her second novel, Last Day in the Dynamite Factory<\/em>, was published by Picador in June 2015.<\/p>\n

In April 2020, The Chicago Quarterly Review<\/em> published\u00a0Seasons of Eden<\/em>, a 5000 word extract from Annah’s novel-in-progress.<\/p>\n

She was represented by literary agents Curtis Brown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acclaimed Writer Annah Faulkner Leaves Literary Suicide Note Annah Faulkner’s final non-fiction writing in the form of her suicide note is poignant, thought-provoking, life-affirming and tragic. It tells of a plea for the rational elderly to be better understood and respected in their end-of-life decision making. To read Annah Faulkner is to understand the work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,207],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n