‘How We Die’ author Nuland dies of prostate cancer in Conn. at 83; had ‘beautiful life’

HAMDEN, Conn. – The author of an award-winning book about death called “How We Die” has died in Connecticut. Dr. Sherwin Nuland was 83.

His daughter Amelia Nuland says he died of prostate cancer Monday in Hamden. She says he told her he’d built such a “beautiful life” and wasn’t ready to leave it but wasn’t scared.

Sherwin Nuland was born in New York and taught medical ethics at Yale University. He was critical of the medical profession’s obsession with prolonging life when common sense would dictate further treatment is futile. He wrote nature “will always win in the end.”

“How We Die” was published in 1994 and won a National Book Award. In it Nuland describes how life is lost to diseases and old age. It helped foster national debate over doctor-assisted suicide and end-of-life decisions.