Nancy Cruzan

THE names are familiar -- Quinlan, Brophy, Lawrance, Delio, Busalacchi, Rosebush, Cole, Wanglie, Mack, Amerman. These are the names of those Americans who pioneered a strange frontier, the boundaries of the right to die.I have been invoking these names for many years in classrooms, lecture halls and articles as a kind of abstract shorthand -- easy references to the key legal landmarks governing the right to say "No more" to medical technology. Those days are over.The University of Minnesota Center for Biomedical Ethics recently organized a conference to examine issues around the right to die. In addition to the usual experts, some of the families who had lived through the legal battles, the protests and the media hounding were invited to speak.

Jonathan BerkowitzFitness trainerServices for Jonathan A. Berkowitz, a fitness trainer who never recovered from auto accident injuries suffered about 14 months ago, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Leroy M. and Russell C. Witzke Funeral Home, 5555 Twin Knolls Road in Columbia.Mr. Berkowitz died Friday at Deaton Hospital and Medical Center in Baltimore as a result of head injuries received in the accident in Baltimore Oct. 7, 1990. He was 24.He had been a patient in four hospitals since the accident and was at Deaton since July.

Dinner was particularly good that night. David and I had eaten while we watched "Jeopardy" and talked over the day's activities. I remember so well how happy he was. He and Linda had just become engaged two weeks ago and they were both so excited. He planned to meet her at her house around 8:30 that night, but he hesitated in the hallway while we watched something very funny on TV. Then, because he thought he might be late, he phoned Lin and left a really silly message on her machine, said goodbye and left.