The more time you spend in the presence of death the less you fear it, your life will be greatly enhanced by spending time with dying people, even though you've been taught to avoid it.

Death is not the enemy snakes are.

This is death,

this is death, sex and money.

Can't save any one of you die.

The show from WNYC about the things we think about a lot.

You want to call me a heart?

No, I call me a lot.

And need to talk about more.

So I can afford such luxuries as rent and antibiotics.

I'm Anna Sale.

And this week we're sharing a conversation I recently had live on stage with writer

Ann Lamotte as part of the Re-imagined End of Life Festival. I think you're going to

like it. During her 40-year career, Ann has written many best-selling books about death and grief,

addiction and recovery, parenthood and family, as well as her impulse to jump when she's in high places. We talk about that in the second half if you want to skip it.

Anne was born and raised in the Bay Area and lives there now.

So we were on stage in front of a hometown crowd in downtown San Francisco.

So you have been writing about death for many years, going back to your first novel that you published

when you were 25, called Hard Laughter, which is such a great title.

But I want to ask you about something that has changed that is new in your life this year when you got married for the first time at 65.

How much were you thinking about death when you made that decision to get married at this point

in your life? Well, I had decided that my husband to be,

...