This just posted in the Daily Hitchens:
Mr Steve Wasserman, Christopher Hitchens’ literary agent, kindly replied to my query about a possible memorial. Posted with permission.
“In accordance with Christopher’s wishes, his body was donated to medical research. Memorial gatherings will occur next year.”
About Anne Crumpacker
I like to read. I also like science, art and drama. I like really big numbers, but I don’t understand them. I like kids and being silly, but sometimes I feel serious and that’s when I like thinking BIG THOUGHTS.
You can visit me @ SocraticMama.com
Now, that was a “righteous” thing for Christopher Hitchens to do. What is learned from him after death might help save lives, just as what was learned from Hitch before death saved, for many of us, the quality of life.
Found your blog, Doc http://docatheist.wordpress.com/
I would be very interested in what happens when you donate your body to science. What is the value to a medical student or researcher? What kinds of diseases do they look at? What is the process for donation? What actually happens to a corpse? It would be fascinating if you wrote it up for your blog (or if you would consider posting it here).
I will add that to my list of things to write about. In my personal case, I am disa bled by ME/CFS, and the signs and symptoms strongly suggest intracranial rather than “supertentorial” pathology. That is to say (in lay terms), my brain is really sick, just as sick as a brain with Multiple Sclerosis, but the disease process isn’t well understood or recognized and requires, in my opinion, cadaveric study of affected tissue, including brain, spinal cord, and cardiac. It’s not “all in my head”, or, as insiders in the medical world put it, “supratentorial.” The conscious part of the brain lies above (supra) the tentorum (tent-like structure between the cerebral hemispheres, above, and the brainstem and cerebellum, below).
In general, I can tell you here that bodies donated to science can be used to teach anatomy (after testing to avoid transmissible disease risk to students), test anatomical function (orthopaedic, in particular), make slides of various tissues to stain for all sorts of things, from cellular anatomy to viral capsids and genes. The range must certainly be wider than this, but this is a start.
Again, in my case, the cause of ME/CFS is unknown, and its transmission is unknown, so my cadaver will not be appropriate for tissue/organ transplantation or direct student contact, IMO. (I was years ahead of the blood banks in recognizing its risk to blood recipients, as well.)
In med school, were were told the remains of our lab cadavers would be cremated and burried in “potter’s field.” I made a point of attending the mass burial, to show respect for those who donated so we could learn.
And if the memorial gatherings are publicized, what do you want to bet on the Westboro creeps attending?
It would almost be disappointing if they didn’t show. I am hoping that there will be multiple gatherings around the world. There are only so many creeps to go around. LOL
Nice hearing from you, Athena!
Exactly my thought! Bring it on! Oh, how I’d like to see the Westboro creeps faces when they find themselves surrounded, 100:1, by “angry” atheists holding up “god is NOT great” placards and such.
By the way, it occured to me, yesterday (yes, a Christmas occurance of biblical proportion), if one made a giant stuffed doll, labeled it, “GW”, and set it on fire, would that constitute a “burning Bush”?