John Gunther wrote a memoir about his son’s, Johnny, tragic death called, “Death Be Not Proud.” Gunther entails the wondrous accomplishments Johnny made, along with his terrific fight against a brain tumor. Throughout the whole book, Gunther describes Johnny’s attitude as positively upbeat and wittily sarcastic, even though Johnny seemed to already have accepted his death early on. Gunther starts the memoir by informing the reader that Johnny dies after fighting a brain tumor for fifteen months; then, goes on to describe Johnny’s life as a whole. Johnny was sixteen years old, attending Deerfield Academy, loved learning new things, was especially passionate for science, and had a selfless, amiable nature. Over spring break, Johnny started complaining about a stiff neck, and his parents called their doctor, Traeger, to check on him. Traeger gives Johnny a clean bill of health, but after continued complaints, Johnny’s parents decide to bring in a specialist, Putnam, who believes Johnny has a brain tumor. Johnny is rushed into surgery where Putnam is only able to remove half of the orange-sized tumor that was occupying Johnny’s brain. Johnny’s condition seemed to be improving, until he suffered a fainting attack, and the …show more content…
All Johnny seems to worry about is falling behind in school, and not being able to perform his science experiments. While at the country house, Johnny’s tumor reopens and once again he is rushed to the hospital to have it rebandaged. Johnny’s parents decide to try Dr. Gerson’s unorthodoxed diet method, since it’s one of their last options as Johnny’s fate seems inevitable. Johnny stays at Gerson’s clinic, where the nurses feed him specific meals for Johnny’s strict diet. Johnny’s parents and all his other doctors are doubtful that a simple diet could cure a brain tumor, but Johnny’s condition improved