The Class We All Need Before We Die

Austin Roy is an English teacher at Flintridge Preparatory School, where he teaches 10th Grade American Literature and a 12th grade course on Joan Didion. Through her memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, and other writings, he encourages students to think and talk about death. They love it!

Austin Roy will speak at End Well 2024 on November 22, 2024. Join live or virtually!

I believe it is the role of high schools to not only prepare students for college, but also to prepare them more broadly for life itself.

EW: Death is often considered taboo. Was there a defining moment in your life that ignited your passion to discuss and address end-of-life experiences openly?

AR: When I was 14, I started teaching a dance class for people with Parkinson Disease at the Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena. It was the first time I had ever become friends with people significantly older, and I soon learned that part of those friendships included talks about illness, dying, and death. I still teach the class now (15 years later), and I invite anyone who seeks to have a deeply moving experience to come join.

EW: Given your unique background, how does your work intersect with the end-of-life and grief conversation, and please give us a preview of what you’re talking about on the End Well stage.

AR: As a high school teacher, I believe it is the role of high schools to not only prepare students for college, but also to prepare them more broadly for life itself. This includes Death Education. In my End Well talk, I’ll discuss not only how I teach Death Education, but why I believe that Death Ed. ought to become a staple in all American high schools.

EW: Cultures around the world have different practices and beliefs surrounding death. How has your cultural background influenced your perspective on the end of life and grief?

AR: I come from a mixed family. My mother is from India; my father is from Pasadena. They both practice different religions (my mother, Zoroastrianism; my father, Christianity), and they raised my sister and me without religion (today, both of us are non-religious). Because neither of my parents pushed a religion on me, I felt comfortable exploring myriad theories of death, dying, and the afterlife or lack thereof. Being non-religious, I’ve also benefited from the distinct privilege of not being afraid to “sin,” which I find frequently tied to various aspects of death and dying (e.g., receiving medication, choosing to die via physician aid in dying, or even just worrying about how choices in this life could lead to judgment in the afterlife).

EW: In your experience, what is the most significant societal norm or belief about death and dying that needs to be challenged or redefined?

AR: That physician aid in dying is, in any way, unethical. Moreover, I believe requirements around physician aid in dying should be significantly loosened.

EW: Is there a book, movie, piece of art, or another form of media that profoundly impacted your views on mortality?

AR: Joan Didion’s memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, was a game changer for me. I first read it when I was 16, and I’ve reread it every year since then. Whenever I experience a loss (monumental or minuscule), I turn to it. And now, as a high school English teacher, I teach a 12th grade course on Joan Didion, and we read The Year of Magical Thinking as part of our Grief and Loss unit.

EW: Fast forward a decade. If the objectives of the End Well Project are realized, how do you envision society’s attitude and practices surrounding the end-of-life experience?

AR: I think that world 10 years from now would be one where death is no longer a taboo subject. Death Education would be a basic part of everyone’s education, and we all would have the tools not only to talk about death, but also to advocate on behalf of ourselves and our loved ones in the dying process.