Helping others after his death. David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, returned to social media on Sunday, January 17, to share a letter written to his late dad by a British palliative care doctor.
The letter, which Jones shared via Twitter (retweeting a post from the Marie Curie cancer charity), was written by a doctor, Dr. Mark Taubert, to the late "Starman" singer, thanking him for helping others face their own mortality by facing his death in the way that he did.
"A thank you letter to David Bowie from a palliative care doctor. http://bit.ly/1J73U4d – thanks for sharing @DrMarkTaubert," the tweet read. The linked letter was self-explanatory.
A thank you letter to David Bowie from a palliative care doctor. https://t.co/ibFYRY8wc1 – thanks for sharing @DrMarkTaubert
— Marie Curie (@mariecurieuk) January 17, 2016
"At the beginning of that week I had a discussion with a hospital patient, facing the end of her life," Taubert wrote. "We discussed your death and your music, and it got us talking about numerous weighty subjects, that are not always straightforward to discuss with someone facing their own demise. In fact, your story became a way for us to communicate very openly about death, something many doctors and nurses struggle to introduce as a topic of conversation."
The doctor also thanked the late music maker, who lost his own battle against cancer a week ago, for his parting musical gifts.
"Thank you for ‘Lazarus’ and Blackstar," Taubert continued. "I am a palliative care doctor, and what you have done in the time surrounding your death has had a profound effect on me and many people I work with. Your album is strewn with references, hints and allusions. As always, you don't make interpretation all that easy, but perhaps that isn't the point."
Jones, a 44-year-old film director, and Bowie's son with his first wife, Angie Bowie, confirmed his dad's passing on Sunday, January 10, via Twitter, adding at the time that he'd be "offline for a while."
