There is no unifying scientific means to define the moment of death, only a legal one. We all know when someone is dead, but what we experience as death is long after that person was "legally" dead. Is it when the heart stops? When the lungs cease, even if the heart continues to beat? Is it when higher brain functions are gone? When basic brain functions are gone? Or, all of the above? Defining death, the ramifications of who decides, and under what circumstances someone is pronounced dead have huge ramifications in fields such as emergency and transplant medicine. This book explores these questions and suggests some possible answers for dealing with a value-laden and difficult, but important, subject. This book was originally published as an article in the Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy under the title "Death: A New Legal Perspective."

Gorham, Bridgton and Beyond The Personal Maine Narrative of Jonathan M. Ray Author Jonathan M. Ray takes the reader to Gorham, Maine in the 1950's and 1960's, and then to Bridgton, Maine in the 1970's-2000's. Along the way there are side trips to Sugarloaf, Moosehead Lake, Mount Katahdin, Old Orchard Beach, and Colby College. Included in personal narrative is a brief genealogy of the Ray and Backman families along with New England visits to Mount Washington and the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and the Massachusetts towns of Lanesville (Gloucester) and Arlington. Ted Williams and baseball card collecting are also featured. Filled with maps and photos, the memoir goes beyond Gorham and Bridgton and concludes with future generations.