05.1c

“Octegenarian [sic] Author Speaks about Death, War, and Ben Lomond.” Article-interview by Amy K. Stewart. Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah), 1 April. Mailer, speaking at the event described in the previous entry, spoke at some length about the recent death of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, who was removed from life support after 15 years on a feeding tube. He said he was weary of those who compared her death to abortion, and said, “What about our soldiers who die in war? Is that flaunting God’s will?” Mailer said he preferred Ogden to Provo, where he spent several months researching The Executioner’s Song (79.14), finding Ogden to be “more open. You really live existentially here, because there are so many things that can dare you.” One of them, he said, would be climbing the area’s highest peak, Mt. Ben Lomond. See 05.1b.