A Short Life

Live life and take nothing for granted. Those were the guiding principles of Jim Slotnick -- adventurous, baseball loving, chess playing, jazz and soul music aficionado. By the time Jim entered UCLA Medical School, at age 25, he had held jobs as far ranging as janitor, Little League umpire, morgue assistant, liquor store clerk, stockboy, carpet salesman, short order cook, film editor, and flower delivery boy, and lived a life of extraordinary experience with family, friends, and lovers.

Jim entered medical school in 1981 with his sights set on a career as a "country doctor," catering to those with limited access to quality health care. Within one year, he was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. What followed was an odyssey of dealing with the health care system and its practitioners, the increasing limitations and challenges of his disease, and his own mortality staring him in the face.