Buchwald Not Ready for the Last Laugh

July 12, 2006 — -- Art Buchwald is supposed to be dead.

Five months ago, the Pulitizer Prize-winning columnist voluntarily stopped dialysis treatment, checked into a Washington-area hospice and prepared for the end.

But to the surprise and delight of his doctors, family and friends, Buchwald continues to live, announcing in a special column last week, "Instead of going straight upstairs, I am going to Martha's Vineyard."

Buchwald, 80, declined further dialysis treatment after doctors amputated his right leg below the knee in February. The humorist, best known for his long-running Washington Post column, which earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1982, was given weeks to live.

From his so-called deathbed, Buchwald updated a living will, devoured McDonald's milkshakes, said farewell to friends and even received a medal from the French ambassador to the United States honoring the writer's 50-year career.

Free from the constraints of 15 hours a week in the clinic, Buchwald met with congressmen, spoke with NPR and, on March 10, 2006, granted ABC News what was then believed to be one of his last television interviews.

Buchwald told "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" producer Lisa Koenig, "It was my decision," referring to his then month-long refusal of dialysis.

"I thought it would be a lot faster than it is," he said. "I was supposed to be [in the hospice] for three weeks, four weeks, and it's about the ninth or eighth week that I'm still here."

Sixteen weeks later, Buchwald wrote in the column, announcing his trip out of bed and toward the beach, "The purpose of the hospice is to help you go gently into the night when all else fails. ... It didn't work out that way for me."

With trademark humor, Buchwald observed, "Most people that enter a hospice depart by a different door than the one they came in."

Initially, Buchwald told "This Week," his family was skeptical of his decision to stop treatment. "My son didn't like the idea at all, but he was so sweet in not pushing me.

"Finally, when they said, 'It's your decision,' the family came around. And it's a very interesting thing, because we sit here in the living room of this place and we discuss my funeral, where it's going to be, who my speakers are going to be. And planning your own funeral, to be sitting here talking about it, is wild. It's crazy."