By BERNARD HOLLAND [NY Times, 19 June 2006]

BOSTON, June 17 — Much of life is spent thinking about death. Primary in our thoughts are the rate of its approach and hour of its arrival. It is a little like driving a car whose accelerator and brakes are out of our control. This idea may explain the public's hideous and enduring fascination with executions and suicides, for in both cases time races and the date is set. People are in control.