Johnny Gunther was only seventeen years old when he died of a brain tumor. During the months of his illness, everyone near him was unforgettably impressed by his level-headed courage, his wit and quiet friendliness, and, above all, his unfaltering patience through times of despair. This deeply moving book is a father's memoir of a brave, intelligent, and spirited boy.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 125 reviews)

An Unforgettable Book

5 Stars
June 19, 2009
I read Death Be Not Proud months ago, and yet i still think about it often. This book really affected me. From the beginning, you know Johnny will not survive the brain tumor. Still, I found myself cheering for his recovery all the way up until the end. Some may find this book sad or depressing because it surrounds death so much, but it actuality this book is rather uplifting. It teaches you how to always remain hopeful, even in the worst of situations. Through-out this book you will get angry, laugh, and maybe even cry, but it will leave an impression on you that you will never forget.

An Unforgettable Book

Stirring Tribute to a Son by stacey @ book:thirty (Houston Metro, TX)

4 Stars
November 04, 2008
Death Be Not Proud is a memoir of the brief and profound life of John Gunther, Jr, written by his father, noted journalist and author John Gunther. It is discovered that John Jr - Johnny - has a malignant brain tumor at just 16 years old. He and his parents learn all they can, wrestle with the medical community, try alternative procedures, fight with all their might, but most importantly, they continue to LIVE, until the tumor finally claims Johnny's life just one year later.

I enjoyed learning about the surprising personality of Johnny. For a teenager, he was remarkably intelligent and aware. His father sings his praises so poignantly, almost as if Johnny were an angel in flesh. I loved the story about Johnny writing to Albert Einstein, and about Einstein's response!

There were moments when I wondered at the reality of the portrait John Sr paints of his son and how he and his parents handled the illness. There is an almost too-perfect quality to their steadfastness and their courage. I have never been in the position of losing a child to a horrible illness, but I guess that I would not always handle things with such grace. As their story continues, though, John Sr concedes that things occasionally got "messy," that there were complaints and regrets and "why me"s. That only made them more human to me.

At the end of the book, after Johnny's death, John Sr gives Johnny's mother her chance to speak. What she writes is so totally heartbreaking, and beautiful at the same time. She says that if there were anything she could have changed, she would have LOVED JOHNNY MORE. She says that of course they loved him, and that he knew it, but she would have loved him even more. She exhorted parents with children still living to LOVE THEIR CHILDREN MORE. Of course children can cause exhaustion and sometimes exacerbation, but despite any trouble, we have the privilege of a living child, and we ought to love them more.

A Timeless Memoir by Julie Merilatt (Chicago, IL)

4 Stars
October 26, 2008
This is the second time I've read Death Be Not Proud and it hasn't lost its poignancy. It is a timeless narrative that reflects Gunther's sense of loss, but at the same time, his sense of wonder in his son's ability to cope with his illness. When Johnny is diagnosed at age 16 with a brain tumor, Gunther and his ex-wife explore every possibility to make their son well. It was especially interesting to see the way this type of ailment was treated sixty years ago and the medical community's view of cancer. One aspect that I had conflicting emotions about was Gunther's decision to not tell Johnny that he was dying of a brain tumor. At times, Johnny was led to believe that he was going to be cured and that he would have his whole life ahead of him. I don't know if that was the right approach, but then again, not telling Johnny he was dying preserved his optimism and motivation. This is such a compelling memoir that anyone who has encountered loss can relate to.

I was in the Barnes and Noble on Broadway and couldn't find "Death Be Not Proud." by Brian Keith O. Hara (bkohatl)

5 Stars
September 13, 2007
I was in the Barnes and Noble on Broadway and couldn't find "Death Be Not Proud." I was looking in the biography section and needless to say I was surprised on not finding it. I called an older clerk over and he looked too. He knew the book and he knew Johnny's story. He, too, was shocked.
We went to the computer and found out that it was classified as Biography, but as "Literature."
That started a conversation between the clerk and me. I told him that I just got back from Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY and seen Johnny's grave. I wanted to buy a copy of the book as a remembrance. He took a break and we had an interesting and thoughtful conversation about it.
More than a biography, more than a piece of literature, Death Be Not Proud is a celebration of life which is also a celebration of one particular life. The book is written by Johnny's Dad and tells the story of the last year of Johnny's after he developed a brain tumor. The humanity and decency of his parents, his doctors, but mostly, Johnny comes through on every page.
I was reading a critique by someone who thought that the book was pablum and a failure. They just don't get it. Johnny the whole time he is dying is keeping everyone else's spirits up. There can be no greater act of selflessness, than cheering up those who love you while you fight the good fight, even when you know that you aren't going to win. I think Johnny knew he was dying from the beginning and he dealt with it by "filling the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run."
A few weeks before he died, Johnny received notification that he had been accepted by Harvard. Over a year of suffering but he still attain his greatest goal.
Johnny Gunther was a man and, to me, "a man for all seasons."
I know that it is highly unlikely, but I wish everyone who faced death had a father, brother, sister, mother or friend like Johnny's Dad. Thanks to John Gunther Sr., Johnny will live forever.
And that is only right.

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