All Things Considered

In his easy, intimate way, Howard Vincent ("Pat") O'Brien gave his public what he thought they wanted--"pathos comes first, humor second, with 'big thoughts' (economics, politics, etc.) trailing badly." His column in the Chicago Daily News, called "All Things Considered," was just that: pleasant musings about cats, commuting, sunspots, watercolors, dishwashing and his daughter's debut.

One sentimental O'Brien column, written the day his son Donel went off to war --and death--told a universal story. It was reprinted in Reader's Digest, read on the radio and at Rotary Clubs.

This spring, Pat O'Brien began to write about a new topic--his illness. From a hospital, he kept up his column with the aid of a dictating machine, datelined it "Cell 308." Some of his readers thought he had eye trouble; his sight had been failing for a long time. Not till three months ago did Pat tell his readers that he had cancer. Even then he tried to give them humor, albeit tightlipped. He wrote: "[The cancer] was near the base of the spine. . . . Getting it out involved considerable damage to adjacent and innocent property. ... It was as if a crew of firemen were trying to get a safe . . . out of the third story of a burning building. The stairs were on fire, so they had to take it through a window. . . . In their haste they knocked down gas pipes, tore holes in water lines and upset the electric wiring. They got the safe out, but left a lot of repair work to be done. . . ."

Only once did Pat O'Brien let his real suffering slip past his lips: "Science is wonderful . . . but I sometimes envy my ancestors who died too early to know how painfully life can be prolonged." Last week, at 59, Pat O'Brien's pain ended.

Toward the end, O'Brien was told that there was a chance he might live. But he would probably be blind. Calmly he took up the study of Braille. After he knew he was dying, he made a final "balancing of the books." He counted up more credits than debits, and told his readers: "I feel a darling of the gods."

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