Paternal honesty

On the morning of July 2, Gregory asked his son to kill him. The asking was not a fully conscious request for practical steps – he suggested getting a stick and hitting him over the head with it, as if by brutal overstatement to achieve the opposite of euphemism – but it was a demanding paternal honesty.

(From Six Days of Dying. Mary Catherine Bateson. essay describing Gregory Bateson’s death) read entire essay here