With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian has no regrets

There haven't been many times when I have been at a loss for words when conducting an interview as a medical reporter. This was one of those moments.

The man cleared his throat, after ignoring the question I just asked him. "You want to know what I think?" he said loudly.

"I do," I replied.

"Is that what this is about -- you want to know how I really feel, what makes me tick?" he said even louder.

I nodded as calmly as I could.

"Let me tell you something," his voice trailed off. He paused and looked momentarily distracted. He gave a long, hard look at his lawyer, who was standing right behind me. He shivered a little bit and bunched up his powder blue sweater.

"I have no regrets, none whatsoever," he said. It was windy outside, but it was also over 90 degrees in sunny Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was now sweating, and he was ... well, cold.

He shifted his gaze from his lawyer back to me. "Sanjay, you want to know the single worst moment of my life?"

That wasn't the question I asked, but in fact I was curious to know the answer.

"OK," I replied -- a little uneasily.

He smiled now and said in a very deliberate, almost staccato voice: "The single worst moment of my life... was the moment I was born." And, we had officially begun my sit-down interview with Dr Jack Kevorkian....
Read entire article at CNN