Mar 2, 2001 - 12:47 PM
John Diamond, Columnist Whose Cancer Was His Subject, Dead at 47
The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) - Newspaper columnist John Diamond, whose compelling accounts of life with cancer drew a large and sympathetic following, died Friday at age 47.
Diamond died at Royal Marsden Hospital, said Peter Stothard, editor of The Times newspaper. "He shed unique light on a dark disease. That light will be John Diamond's greatest legacy." Stothard said.
Diamond was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1997, and his weekly lifestyle column for The Times became an intimate diary blending everyday experiences with thoughts on radiotherapy, surgery and mortality.
In his column last weekend, Diamond joked about a new round of chemotherapy: "Strangely, I don't much mind about losing the hair on my head for a while, but I'm annoyed that I'll be bald-chested."
Picked by Drunk As A Skunk.