One man and his fantasy

PROFILE: TERRY PRATCHETTMuch-loved author Terry Pratchett, who suffers from a rare form of Alzheimer's, has lent his influential voice to the euthanasia debate in Britain, asking to die on his own terms when the time comes

LAST MONDAY'S Richard Dimbleby Lecture, as shown on BBC1, attracted the biggest-ever television audience for an event that's been running for well over 30 years. This year's lecture title was Shaking Hands with Death, and it was written by best-selling author Terry Pratchett, the first writer in its history to give the lecture.

It was delivered on Pratchett’s behalf by actor Tony Robinson because, though present, the author could not deliver it himself due to a medical condition: he was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of Alzheimer’s, in 2007. It is this condition that informed the Dimbleby lecture, in which Pratchett made a compelling case for assisted suicide, a term he rejects in favour of “assisted death”.

He used the platform to lay out his case for a non-aggressive euthanasia tribunal, to include a lawyer and a medical practitioner, which could establish the facts of particular cases well in advance of an assisted death. “The members of the tribunal would be acting for the good of society as well as that of the applicant – horrible word – to ensure they are of sound and informed mind, firm in their purpose, suffering from a life-threatening and incurable disease, and not under the influence of a third party.”

He offered himself as a test case, having vowed to die “before the disease mounted its last attack, in my own home, in a chair on the lawn, with a brandy in my hand to wash down whatever modern version of the Brompton cocktail some helpful medic could supply. And with Thomas Tallis on my iPod, I would shake hands with Death.”

Since he delivered the lecture, which has garnered thousands more viewers on YouTube since its original airing, Pratchett’s words have galvanised the euthanasia debate in Britain. Yet as the author himself pointed out, it may be an idea “whose time is really coming”.

Just eight days before the lecture, writer Martin Amis had called for “euthanasia booths” on Britain’s street corners, “where you could get a Martini and a medal”, pointing to his stepfather’s difficult death last year and his family’s desire to assist him.

Nor was it the first time Pratchett had aired his views on assisted death, having first expressed his wish to end his own life in August last year. Yet Pratchett (61) is now two years closer to that Thomas Tallis moment, and as an author with a tremendous following, ever recognisable in his trademark black hat, his voice carries particular weight in this debate.

Born an only child in Beaconsfield, near London, Pratchett reportedly couldn’t read until the age of 10, though from then on he remembers spending so much time in his local public library that he credits it for much of his education. When he was 13 years old, he wrote a fantasy story that was published for a school magazine. It was so well received that he sent it on to a sci-fi magazine, which published the story, paying the author enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter.

Having established a talent with words, he went on to train in journalism, working for some years on a local newspaper. During his time there, Pratchett published short stories for the paper’s children’s column.

The characters and world he created therein went on to form the basis for his first book, The Carpet People, which was published in 1971.

It wasn't until 12 years later, however, that readers were introduced to the Discworld, with the publication of The Colour of Magicin 1983, which came out while he was working as a press officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board.

The Discworld, a flat world that balances on the backs of four elephants that are standing on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space, was to become the location for 37 novels in what is now one of the most popular fantasy book series ever written in the English language. Such is its following that it has since spawned Discworld conventions all over the world.

Yet it took three more Discworld novels before Pratchett gave up his day job, and turned to writing full-time. In all, the books have sold over 65 million to date and been translated into some 37 languages.

His popularity is unquestionable. In his introduction to Pratchett’s lecture, David Dimbleby said: “When the BBC had a poll asking the British public to name their favourite novel, there were only two writers who had five books in the top 100: one was Charles Dickens and the other was Terry Pratchett.” In fact, in the same 2003 survey, there were 15 Pratchetts in the top 200 novels, a higher number than was achieved by any other author.

Even in the US, where his particular brand of humour took more time to find an audience, his latest book, Unseen Academicals, published last October, became an instant bestseller.

In his review of the novel in this newspaper last October, Prof Edward James, head of the school of history and archives at UCD, attempted to explain Pratchett’s popularity. “There is the humour, of course – wordplay, parody, comic excess, satire – much of it arising from making his fantasy world a distorting mirror of our own. There is the serious moral core, common to all good satire. And there is the fascination in watching Pratchett’s slow world building, as we gradually get to know Discworld and its inhabitants.”

Despite such critical acclaim, and steadfast sales rivalled only by the Harry Potter books, the more weighty literary prizes have eluded Pratchett, though he has been quoted as saying: “If someone said: ‘What would you rather do, win the Booker or have a number one bestseller?’ I’d say: ‘Have a number one bestseller.’ It’s a journalist’s thing.”

He did win the prestigious Carnegie Medal in 2001, for a Discworld novel he wrote for a younger audience, entitled The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. In his acceptance speech, Pratchett queried perceptions of his chosen genre that ignore the profound themes with which many fantasy authors grapple. "Recent Discworld books have spun on such concerns as the nature of belief, politics and even of journalistic freedom, but put in one lousy dragon and they call you a fantasy writer."

Though he may not count a Booker among his prizes just yet, he has received several honorary doctorates, and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for “services to literature” in 1998, and knighted last year, an accolade he claims inspired him to make his own sword. “Of course I shall never be able to take it out into the street, because such is the decay of our society that not even knights can carry their swords on them.”

He acknowledged at the Richard Dimbleby lecture that to many he is now known as Mr Alzheimer’s, since going public about his illness two years ago.

Since its diagnosis, he has donated close to £500,000 (about €572,000) to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. His donation spawned a campaign by readers, Match It for Pratchett, to equal his figure.

PRATCHETT, WHO LIVES in Wiltshire with his wife, with whom he has one daughter, describes himself as a humanist, and has spoken about his anger on hearing about the disease, and the difficulties presented by the absence in his own belief system of a God to blame for his condition.

Though he retains hope for “a treatment that will keep me going long enough for a better treatment to be developed”, this week’s lecture was concerned with an eventuality where such a cure does not emerge.

“Let us consider me as a test case. As I have said, I would like to die peacefully with Thomas Tallis on my iPod before the disease takes me over, and I hope that will not be for quite some time to come. Because if I knew that I could die at any time I wanted, then suddenly every day would be as precious as a million pounds. If I knew that I could die, I would live. My life, my death, my choice.”

CV TERRY PRATCHETT

Who is he?His full title is Sir Terence David John Pratchett, OBE, though most know him simply as Terry Pratchett, bestselling author of the Discworld series of fantasy novels.

Why is he in the news?In his BBC1 Dimbleby Lecture this week, he called for a euthanasia tribunal to adjudicate on assisted deaths.

Most likely to say:"I'll have a brandy with that."

Least likely to say:"So help me God."