© 2024 | Jefferson Public Radio
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6301 | 800.782.6191
Listen | Discover | Engage a service of Southern Oregon University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Harp Music By The Bedsides Of The Dying

Wikimedia

The care of dying people is often about physical comforts and medical efforts.

But music can be part of the closing of life's book as well. 

Music thanatologists play instruments, often harps, to soothe people approaching death. 

Jane Franz wrote a book about it, Behind The Harp; she joins us on the phone. 

And Elizabeth Markell and James Excell, married music thanatologists from the Rogue Valley, lug their harps into the studio to demonstrate what they do.  
 

Stay Connected
Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.