Gordon Thornton, PhD, FT, professor emeritus from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, began teaching a death and dying course in 1975. During the recent ADEC Conference (Association for Death Education and Counseling), we enjoyed a conversation about some of his personal and professional experiences and beliefs about living life & dying death. He mentions one of my favorite quotes by Woody Allen “It’s not that I’m afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens!” Dr. Thornton’s kindness and sensitivity makes it easy to see why he is a highly respected expert in the field of Thanatology.
Tags: thanatology education
Amy Beth Porta Kleebank
January 6th, 2011
I was one of the fortunate students that took Dr. Thornton’s class at IUP, entitled: Childhood Death and Dying. At the time I took this class because it was the only class available that fit into my schedule. Once in the class, I soon realized that I was glad that I enrolled. Gordon made this class so interesting and not just informative. It changed my perspectives on death and on living. Just like in this video, it opened up a dialog for me to speak to the people that I loved about their lives to know not just their wishes after they had lived their lives but to know their “life stories”. I never knew how much this class meant to me until the birth of my child. She was diagnosed only 7 weeks after her birth with a rare liver disease called Biliary Atresia. She had an operation to save her life but will eventually need a liver transplant. When my husband and I were going through our grieving process I spoke about Dr. Thornton’s class and knowing some of the things that were taught to me helped me in ways that I can never fully explain. If you have contact with Dr. Thornton could you please let him know that his lessons are invaluable and he will always hold a place in my heart. Thank you Dr. Thornton, Amy Porta Kleebank