Series of columns, What I learned from dying, by rural weekly journalist Dave Taylor, will be published as book

In the spring of 2021, Dave Taylor found out he had Stage 4 esophageal cancer. The veteran journalist and editor of the weekly Hancock Clarion in Hawesville, Kentucky, began writing about the experience the week afterward in a column series called "What I Learned From Dying."

"If things go well this will be a long-term column that could serve as catharsis for me or a peek behind the gown for those who are curious," Taylor wrote in the first column. "If things don’t go as well, then maybe it’s just a long, rambling goodbye."

Dave Taylor's widow, Jamie D. Taylor, has announced that Dave's columns will be published as a book: "One of Dave’s dreams was to write a book, and while we wish the circumstances were different, we will see his dream through." Taylor's series will not be relegated to ramblings, but will share the experiences of a man who embraced life and death. 

The announcement said the book's publication comes with the "full support and blessing of Donn Wimmer, owner of the Hancock Clarion. . . . Thank you, everyone, you have been absolutely amazing to us and we count ourselves very fortunate to be so loved."

"Dave Taylor was with the Hancock Clarion and was elected to the Kentucky Press Association Board of Directors for District 3. He served two terms in that capacity until his death on Labor Day 2022," reports David T. Thompson, executive director of the Kentucky Press Association. "He wrote about his battle with cancer most every week, even writing from the hospital bed and until just before his death."