Author Archives: paulcmclean

About paulcmclean

I'm a husband, father, and writer, which is another way of saying I have the best gig there is. I'm an accidental bioethicist, occasional children's chorus chaperone, a bit over the top in the Springsteen department, and have a daughter who was cured and a beagle with a story. Some call the beagle a rescue. What they don't realize is, I'm the rescue.

The Reverend & the Atheist

Posted on February 21, 2013

An atheist and a minister walk into a bar. The atheist orders Johnny Walker neat. The minister eyes it wistfully, asks for cranberry juice with a twist, smiles and says, “So, tell me about the God you don’t believe in, … Continue reading →

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Knowing When

Posted on December 24, 2012

On the date and in the hospital where I was born 58 years ago, my friend was allowed to die. It’s what he had said he would want, it’s what the doctors said was occurring, and it’s what his family … Continue reading →

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Things They Do

Posted on November 8, 2012

A story written for the workshop Living Into Dying at First Parish in Brookline Last summer, as I planned the workshop Living Into Dying with my minister and two friends from church, I told them about a story I had … Continue reading →

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Grace & Anthony

Posted on October 10, 2012

Two recent New York Times stories provided very different looks into the complexity of decision-making at the end of life. One is the ongoing story of a deeply religious family’s anguish over a dying adult daughter’s fate. Grace Lee has … Continue reading →

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Long Live the Dialogue

Posted on September 24, 2012

A story written and told for worship at First Parish in Brookline on Sunday, September 23, 2012. My cousin studied astrophysics at Harvard. She said if I’m ever sitting next to an inquisitive person, like on a plane, and I’m … Continue reading →

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Tattoos, Hospice Nurses & Competing Wolves

Posted on August 16, 2012

I’m just discovering the blog at hospicediary.org, written by Amy Getter, a hospice nurse in Seattle. I was drawn to it by her Twitter exchange with physician Alex Smith following his blog post at GeriPal.org. Smith writes about people getting DNR … Continue reading →

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The Medal Count

Posted on August 12, 2012

I began the day with Nicholas Kristof’s wrenching portrait of the heroic and once-brilliant Major Ben Richards, who is is seeing his mind slip away after repeated head injuries in Iraq. Now that he’s home and needs us, we’re not there for … Continue reading →

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The Virtue of Patience With Patients

Posted on July 31, 2012

What do you call a doctor who for decades cares for the destitute, demoralized and demented, patients who often care little for themselves, in a medical anachronism fast giving way to politics and bean counting? You might call her blessed. … Continue reading →

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The Twilight Zone

Posted on July 10, 2012

Invasive. Non-indigenous. Undocumented. Illegal. Foreign. Strange. Alien. Other. Allogeneic. Barbaric. Not from around here. I first spotted the critter on a short break from the Transplant Ward of Seattle Children’s Hospital, while strolling with my wife along a dirt path … Continue reading →

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The Fly

Posted on June 4, 2012

I was writing about oncologists and grief when a large fly caused me grief of a lesser form. First the fly strafed my right ear en route to loudly smacking up against the window a few times. Then it disappeared … Continue reading →

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