As relatives age or loved ones develop terminal illnesses, nothing can be more unsettling and uncomfortable than having a frank discussion with those who are nearing the end, and consequently we oftentimes put it off until either it’s too late to truly determine the final wishes of those who are departing. The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End of Life Care by Dr. Angelo Volandes addresses the urgent need to have open and honest communication between the doctors, patients, and their loved ones.

Also today, Vicki chats with Northeast Trust Wildnerness president Tom Butler regarding Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot, a large-format coffee table book featuring over 300 pages to demonstrate how human activity has transformed the Earth, and not always in a positive way.

Finally, we will also explore how to nurture spirit and imagination in your everyday life with poet Patrice Vecchione, author of Step Into Nature, a guide to make nature personal again.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like us on Facebook and follow Vicki on Twitter for exclusive updates and contests!

Dr. Angelo Volandes wants patients, families, and doctors to place greater emphasis on the oldest trick in the black medical bag; talking to each other. With The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End of Life Care, he illustrates the urgent need for open communication and discussing critical matters to counteract what often becomes an assault of medical intervention at the end of life. He addresses the need to find out the dying persons wishes… such as any fears they may have, and what is vitally important to that individual, including and spiritual, philosophical or cultural beliefs that guide them in medical decisions. Dr. Volandes is a physician and researcher at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and is also the founder of Advance Care Planning Decisions, a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging The Conversation through the use of videos.

Step Into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life by Patrice Vecchione highlights the importance of reconnecting with nature to engage the restorative power of the outdoors by offering activities and resources that can easily be used by individuals, families, or groups. Patrice is a poet, artist, and author who will be appearing for a book signing and reading in Seattle at Elliot Bay Books on Tuesday, April 14th at 7PM.

Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot by Tom Butler is a large-format coffee table book featuring more than 300 pages of a world overrun by human activity. “We wanted to go straight to the emotional center of a viewer, someone who has never thought about the population question, and say: Here is how the Earth has been transformed,” Butler explains. Butler is the editorial projects director of the Foundation for Deep Ecology and president of the Northeast Wilderness Trust. The book is produced as part of the 2015 Global Population Speak Out campaign and you can read it for free on their website.

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