survivalofonlyeightmonthsafterdiscovery,”hewrote.
Thenewswasdevastating.Butthenhebeganlookingat
the graphs of the patient-survival curves.
Gouldwasanaturalistand moreinclinedto noticethe
variationaroundthecurve’smiddlepointthanthemiddle
point itself. What the naturalist saw was remarkable
variation. The patients were not clustered around the
median survival but, instead, fanned out in both
directions.Moreover,thecurvewasskewedtotheright,
withalongtail,howeverslender,ofpatientswholived
manyyearslongerthantheeight-monthmedian.Thisis
where he found solace. He could imagine himself
survivingfaroutalongthatlongtail.Andsurvivehedid.
Following surgery and experimental chemotherapy, he
livedtwentymoreyearsbeforedying,in2002,attheage
of sixty, from a lung cancer unrelated to his original
disease.
“Ithasbecome,inmyview,abittootrendytoregardthe
acceptanceofdeathassomethingtantamounttointrinsic
dignity,”hewroteinhis 1985 essay.“OfcourseIagree
withthepreacherofEcclesiastesthatthereisatimeto
loveandatimeto die—andwhenmyskeinrunsoutI
hopetofacetheendcalmlyandinmyownway.Formost
situations,however,Ipreferthemoremartialviewthat
death is the ultimate enemy—and I find nothing
reproachableinthosewhoragemightilyagainstthedying
of the light.”
IthinkofGouldandhisessayeverytimeIhaveapatient
withaterminalillness.Thereisalmostalwaysalongtail
ofpossibility,howeverthin.What’swrongwithlooking
forit?Nothing,itseemstome,unlessitmeanswehave