Jack Kevorkian

Janet Good, 73, an outspoken right-to-die activist and ally of assisted suicide proponent Dr. Jack Kevorkian, died Tuesday in Farmington Hills, Mich., after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.Geoffrey Fieger, Dr. Kevorkian's attorney, said she died peacefully. It was not known whether Dr. Kevorkian was present.Ms. Good had been active in the state's right-to-die movement and founded the Hemlock Society of Michigan.Pub Date: 8/28/97

In yesterday's Today section, criminal charges against Dr. Jack Kevorkian were reported incorrectly. He was acquitted of assisting people to kill themselves.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 3/20/97

In yesterday's Today section, criminal charges against Dr. Jack Kevorkian were reported incorrectly. He was acquitted of assisting people to kill themselves.The Sun regrets the errors.ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- Getting to see Jack Kevorkian in person isn't the perverse thrill you might expect it to be. Up close, Kevorkian -- aka Dr. Death -- isn't spooky. He is a little old man, slight enough to blow away in the wintry Michigan wind, with tufty white hair and oversized brown glasses. His 68-year-old face is angular, but not skeletal; his skin glows a healthy pink, and he smiles a lot. Imagine a cross between a sprightly grandfather -- the sort who buys his clothes at the Salvation Army -- and a theatrical college professor -- the sort who hangs out on the quad debating his students.

WASHINGTON -- In wheelchairs, on crutches, with guide dogs, the demonstrators gathered outside the Supreme Court yesterday, shouting that they fear they will be pushed to end their lives should physician-assisted suicide become legal."

HAS DR. DEATH finally gone too far?You would think so, when news stories indicate that one of the deaths he presided over in recent days was that of a woman who frequently accused her husband of abuse, who was depressed, dangerously overweight and probably addicted to prescription drugs, who did not suffer from a terminal disease and who had a history of seeking out celebrity doctors.But despite the fact that Michigan, his home state, has revoked his medical license, Jack Kevorkian has proved to be adept at evading punishment.

People must take greater responsibilityIt seems impossible in recent months to read the editorial page of the local papers without being barraged by attacks on John Gary. Did we forget that we placed him in office by a majority? As I remember, he's there because we wanted less taxes, smaller government and more control of our lives.Several months ago, my wife overheard my 6-year-old's teacher complain that the school had run out of paper for the younger children's art classes. My wife works as a pressman for a printing company and asked them if they could give the school some of their paper that was scrap for their use but would be perfect for art sheets.

WASHINGTON -- Jack Kevorkian's 33rd victim, Rebecca Badger, was just 39 years old.She was, she said, so crippled by the effects of multiple sclerosis that she relied on a wheelchair and had to be dragged by her daughter to the bathroom. She had difficulty with bladder and bowel control and was in constant, unbearable pain. Ms. Badger turned to Jack Kevorkian as an ''angel of mercy'' to free her.On July 9, in a hotel room in Pontiac, Mich., Dr. Kevorkian administered an injection of potassium chloride, and Ms. Badger died, holding her daughter's hand.

Baltimore port seeks more businessThe maritime industry is undergoing fundamental changes. There has been a dramatic shift to larger vessels calling fewer ports and an increased emphasis on scheduling. As service providers, the Maryland Port Administration and the Port of Baltimore must assess the marketplace to see how we can best compete in this new world order.The MPA recently unveiled a strategic plan that will serve as a blueprint for our agency in the years ahead. While Richard C. Clements (letter, July 14)

World action needed on slavery in SudanThe Sun published (June 16-18) a three-part series, ''Witness to Slavery,'' reporting the experiences of two reporters and their documenting the existence of slavery in the Sudan.This series of articles highlighted for me an outrageous condition in the Sudan that evidently has been often reported by the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State and human rights organizations of slavery in Sudan and Mauritania.As a descendant of a once-enslaved people in the United States, and having information about this unspeakable treatment of Africans by Africans, of humans by humans, I lift my voice in outrage against slavery in the Republic of Sudan and wherever else in Africa it is found.

BOSTON -- I'm not exactly sure how to address this letter.Should I address it to the "obiatrist" who once wanted to harvest the organs of death row inmates?Or to the defendant who came to court in full Thomas Jefferson regalia spouting 18th century sound bites of freedom?Or to the doctor in the videotapes speaking gently to patients in pain?Or to the man shouting in hallways about a "political lynching"?But let's keep it simple. Here we go: Dear Dr. Jack, Congratulations . . . and please retire.