"By the time you read this, I will be dead"-- John Hofsess

Photo: John Hofsess

Timely as can be, given the current controversies over legislation governing assisted death,Toronto Life carries a first-person feature by John Hofsess about his own; after helping 8 people end their lives as part of his work as an activist in the Right to Die Society of Canada, among them the poet Al Purdy. (Purdy gave permission to detail his story) he reports on ending his own life.

Hofsess was, among other things, an arts writer, a magazine editor,author and the film critic for Maclean's. At the age of 78, he had been diagnosed with two terminal illnesses, including pulmonary fibrosis and prostate cancer, as well as a unstable heart. 

In addition to detailing how he came to be a crusader for law reform around assisted dying, Hofsess's story said

On February 23, I will fly to Switzerland to die. The latitude of Swiss law appeals to me—laypersons are permitted to assist voluntary deaths—and I wish to end my life in the company of good people. By the time this story is published, I will be dead.

Good as his word, he died at 4:45 p.m. EST February 29.