How close have you come to death?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded John Lewis said elsewhere, not written here
On the Freedom Rides in the year 1961, when I was beaten at the Greyhound bus station in Montgomery, I thought I was going to die. On March 7, 1965, when I was hit in the head with a night stick by a state trooper at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, I thought I was going to die.

Academy of Achievement interview, Chicago, 10 June 2004 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 209 →
Suzanne Vega American singer-songwriter
A death threat at Glastonbury festival in 1989. The police told me not to go on, but I said I had to because I was headlining. So I wore a bullet-proof vest. It seemed unlikely that I would be assassinated, but it was shocking and very stressful.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 September 2017 source ↗
Jake Shears Singer and songwriter; co-lead vocalist of Scissor Sisters
Five years ago, a concrete plug, a little bigger than a baseball, fell off a building on Hollywood Boulevard when I was riding in an open convertible. It shattered the windshield. It really shook me. I still have it on my mantel.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗
Ram Dass Spiritual teacher and author
I was close to death, and I didn't rush into my spirit. I spent the time in the hospital just looking at the pipes on the ceiling. ... I failed because this was a trauma, a trauma, and I'm not reacting to it spiritually.
Recorded Ross Simonini, The Believer, issue 115, by Skype from Hawaii, 20 November 2017 source ↗

More from John Lewis

View profile →
Question Which writers or artists most influenced your work? Taste & recommendation
Jim Lawson. Jim Lawson was an unbelievable human being. Born in Ohio. He was a pacifist. He studied Gandhi. He was part of the Methodist Student Movement. He lived in India. He became an organizer for FOR, the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Recorded Julian Bond, Explorations in Black Leadership interview, Explorations in Black Leadership, University of Virginia source ↗

More on death & what remains

Also answered this

Jon Snow, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Desmond Tutu, Gloria Steinem, Sadiq Khan, Keir Starmer

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

Report this answer