Rob Mermin and Bill Morancy lived in neighboring apartments in Montpelier, Vermont. They were best friends. And when Bill was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he asked his best friend to help him die.In 2013, Vermont passed the The Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act, or Act 39…our version of Death with Dignity. The legislation allows eligible Vermonters with terminal diseases the option to be prescribed medication that will hasten the end of their life. In 2015, Bill elected to use Act 39 to end his life, and he asked Rob to help him. This is a story primarily about their friendship–and the months, days and moments leading up to Bill’s death.To learn more about Rob Mermin and his illustrious career as a mime and the founder of Circus Smirkus, visit here.
The music for this show was made by Vermont musicians Brian Clark and Mike Donofrio. And you heard from the original film soundtracks of South Pacific and Carousel, both by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The piano licks in this show were made by Vermont pianist Marie Helene Belanger Kudos for Show Notable podcast, AV Club, June 13, 2016, for Last Chapter Audible Feast, June 11-17, 2016
Listen to the Episode on the Rumble Strip Website
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Erica Heilman invites herself into people’s homes to find out what they know, hate, love, what they’re afraid of, and what makes them more like you than you’d realized. These are messy, obsessively crafted stories of the everyday.
Rumble Strip’s Finn and the Bell won a Peabody Award in 2022. Rumble Strip was named #1 Podcast of 2022 by The New Yorker and among the top 10 podcasts of 2022 by The New York Times. The Our Show series was named the #1 podcast of 2020 by The Atlantic. For more information about the show, visit the press page where other writers are more articulate about Erica’s show than she is.
Rumble Strip has aired on 99% Invisible, Radiolab, Snap Judgment, SOUNDPRINT, CBC, BBC, KCRW, and on major public radio affiliates across the country.