cover image But What If She Wants to Die: A Husband's Diary

But What If She Wants to Die: A Husband's Diary

George E. Delury. Birch Lane Press, $21.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-1-55972-411-1

The author, who spent six moths in a New York City jail for the assisted suicide in 1995 of Myrna, his wife of 22 years, states that he wrote this book in order to vindicate her freedom of choice. It is clear, however, that Delury is trying to justify his actions. He describes how he and Myrna fell in love and shared a happy marriage until the symptoms of her multiple sclerosis began to worsen. The disease progressively robbed her of mobility and bladder control and her medication caused mood swings, although she was in no physical pain. After she was confined to a wheelchair, Delury mentioned the idea of suicide, which, according to him, she initially embraced. He stockpiled sedatives and, with the assistance of a plastic bag over her head, caused Myrna's death. Although the 62-year-old author was physically exhausted from caring for his wife and dealing with the medical establishment, his claim that his wife was determined to die is not entirely convincing since she, according to her husband's diary, kept changing her mind. (July)