Death-The Final Frontier. (Parting Thoughts)

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THE BOOK Tuesdays with Morrie was on the best-seller list for nearly a year. This was unusual, inasmuch as it centered on a dying man. Death usually does not attract a large readership, as the admission of it as a fact of life is one of civilization's taboos. We all admit to its inevitability in an abstract way, but steadfastly refuse to acknowledge it as an existential fact of life. The exception may be seniors, who know its inevitability is closer rather than further at their stage of life. They even are reminded of this in TV reruns of the "Lawrence Welk Show," often sponsored by a mortuary. This may seem macabre to some, but not to the oldsters who know the sands of time are running out.

Jokes about death, though, are commonplace and often involve "gallows humor." Example: A man doesn't quite know what parting words to say to his friend who is about to be electrocuted, so he simply says, "More power …