(no subject)

[serene]

I am officially blown away.

The books of Peter McWilliams changed my life, and I just found out that he died, and that before he died, he made all his books available free on the web. I'm a little verklempt here. I mean, I have one of his books right here at work, and I quote him all the time. His work pulled me out of some serious stuckness in a time when I thought I might be stuck forever.

I don't get choked up when celebrities die, but I feel like this person was a real part of my life.

Comments

[cheshyre]

Sympathies.

I find the circumstances of his death particularly tragic. [I won't go into them if you don't want.] He's one of those people I found so brilliant and insightful, I can't help wondering what he could've accomplished had his life not been cut so prematurely short.

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

I used to be on his mailing list, and then at one point he hadn't posted for a while and I found out he had died a horrible and completely preventable death due to government harassment and persecution -- just sickening.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

It's just so sad. I also blame John-Roger, who convinced McWilliams for years that he didn't have AIDS, and thus shouldn't get any treatment.

[cheshyre]

Personally, I blame the legal system for forbidding him to make use of the one treatment (medical marijuana) keeping his nausea under control. And for denying him access to all his AIDS meds during his brief stint in prison, for excessive bail which put his family's homes in jeopardy thus preventing him from fleeing the country to a safer place, for the judge refusing to allow a medical defense, and for applying such punitive testing terms after his release...

In many respects, I think the judicial system killed him, more than I consider it a death by natural causes.

BTW, you might appreciate that noted conservative William F. Buckley wrote an obit for him.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[red-frog.livejournal.com]

I've been a fan of Peter McWilliams since I found Ain't No One's Business What You Do for sale in Second Story Books in Dupont Circle lo these many years ago. In a way, finding the book was a real shame. As I recall it (this was over ten years ago, so my memory may be faulty), no copies of the book had been published for sale. He'd printed up one copy of the book for each House member and senator--and, according to a friend of mine who was a chief of staff for one of the representatives, they pretty much universally got trashed. The copy I have is one of those. I'm just grateful that it did not end up in the circular file, so I could have it.

I'm sympathetic to busy people not wanting to read the reams of dreck pushed at them, but this was well-written and funny and thoughtful. Many of the target audience probably would have enjoyed it and possibly benefited from it. His death was a great loss, and I agree that it was a really STUPID way for him to die.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

You are both right, of course. One cult (a religion small enough to pick on) and one government agency practicing ritual banishment in the guise of medical policy.

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

I love his work, too, and am sorry to hear of his death.

I also don't get choked up when celebrities die, but there are a few -- those who, as you say, have really been a part of my life -- I will mourn as I might mourn a friend.

-J

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

He emailed me randomly because of my quotes file, if I recall correctly. (About marijuana legalization.) I had no idea who he was, but he was reasonable and kind and made a lot of sense.

Several years later, I read his books.

A very good man.

Sigh.

[firecat]

Which of his books should I look at first?

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh.

A wonderful treatise on decriminalization of victimless crimes is "Ain't Nobody's Business If [I/You?] Do"

My first exposure to him, and the first work on vision-work stuff that I could connect with (and I think of you when I re-read it) was Life 101

Lovely book that really resonated with me about non-sappy positive thinking is You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought

The thing that got me unstuck and still keeps me willing to work on my big dreams is Do It: Let's Get Off our Buts

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Oh, *and* he's (he was) as addicted to quotations as you are. :-)