Death is certain, but as the old saying goes, life is not. How we die can also raise terrifying questions about the unknown. That does not mean that we don’t have choices that can help guide us through the metaphorical and emotional darkness of the end of life.

“For the patient suddenly empowered with choices during their final days they are infinitely more stress free and more engaged,” said Barbara Coombs Lee. “They often make amends, tell people that they love them when they are not worried or frantic about the end or worried about being in pain.”

Coombs Lee is the author of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, which was enacted on October 27, 1997 to allow terminally ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, prescribed by a physician for that purpose. Coombs Lee is also the president of Compassion and Choices, a national organization dedicated to improving care and expanding choices at life’s end.

She will be presenting her lecture entitled “Transforming Our Dying” on Sunday, Sept. 22, 4 p.m., at Orcas Center as part of the Crossroads Lecture Series. The series has brought speakers to Orcas Island to share their expertise on timely and important issues for the last five years. Coombs Lee is one of three speakers including two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Horsey and Patricia C. Kuszler, professor of law and associate dean at the University of Washington School of Law.

For the first lecture in the series Coombs Lee will explore how the baby boomer generation has the potential to allow people to choose more graceful, responsible and life-affirming experiences toward the end of their lives.

She said baby boomers are important because they have been part of great change  from the Civil Rights Movement to women’s rights to reproductive rights to a person’s rights in the workplace.

“Baby boomers are more likely to be willing to assess their futures and assess the quality of their lives,” she said. “I think that baby boomers are used to having it ‘my way’ and are unlikely to acquiesce to the norm and more likely to look at all options.”

The lecture will not only be applicable to baby boomers, but to all ages because, as Coombs Lee puts it, tragedies can happen at any time and it does not hurt to be prepared. The talk may also be helpful for younger people as they prepare to navigate through the death of their loved ones.

“It’s really appropriate to everyone and improves everyone’s lives to explore mortality and what it means,” she said.

For more info, visit http://www.compassionandchoices.org/.

David Horsey will present “The Last Refuge of Scoundrels” on Sunday Oct. 20, 4 p.m. at Orcas Center. The two-time Pulitzer-winning journalist will share his cartoons and opinions about the debilitating polarization of American politics in the age of the Obama administration. His multi-media presentation will feature work from his new book, “Refuge of Scoundrels,” which covers the last five years of news events in the U.S. and the world.

Horsey said his ideas come from the daily news and years of immersing himself in cable news. The exact way that the ideas are translated into cartoons is described by Horsey as a mysterious business.

“The actual ideas – the way I turn my opinion into a drawing – well, that comes from a lot of brainstorming, coming up with images in my head when I’m driving or walking somewhere or just staring out the window,” he said. “I don’t know why I can summon up these ideas. It’s just the way my mind works – and I hope it keeps on working like that for a few more years.”

After a long career at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Horsey now works for the Los Angeles Times. His cartoons and columns are syndicated to more than 200 newspapers. As a writer and artist, Horsey has the unique talent of sharing information to the public in two very different mediums. Although he views both as having their place, his cartoons may have the advantage.

“Being able to sum up a complex issue in a single image that both entertains and delivers a message is a powerful thing,” he said.

As far as his Pulitzers go, Horsey said his two kids are still his greatest accomplishments, but the prizes may have helped him secure his career in the unstable world of journalism.

“Winning once might have been a mistake, but winning twice tells me I’m doing something right,” he said.

Patricia Kiszler’s talk “Obamacare:  Fact, Fiction, Fury?” will be Sunday, Nov. 17, 4 p.m. at Orcas Center.

The Affordable Care Act also known as “Obamacare” has generated debate since its passage in 2010.  Kuszler’s presentation reviews the provisions of Obamacare, discusses what it changes and what it does not change, debunks popular fictions, and delves into the fury surrounding the act as it is being implemented.

“Often the fury over health care is not really grounded in health care, all the sound and fury is grounded in bigger issues of social justice … the battle of the classes,” said Kiszler.

She said it’s important for people to know the truth about Obamacare for two big reasons. For those who don’t have insurance they can learn what opportunities they may have. If you do have insurance the lecture could open your eyes to what Obamacare will not provide.

“There has been so much press on the issue and most of it is bad and not well reported,” she said. “In most cases they are largely untrue, but there is always a grain of truth… usually only grain.”

Kuszler has observed health issues from a diverse set of  views from her time as an emergency professor to her time practicing law to now teaching health law at the University of Washington. She  is also director of the Center for Law, Science and Global Health.

“I think health care has always been a hot button issue. Anytime you make any changes you are going to have human outcry,” she said.

For info about the Crossroads Lecture Series and to buy tickets, visit orcascrossroads.org. You can also buy tickets at Darvill’s Bookstore.