Midcoast Senior College invites you to explore our Summer Wisdom 2023 through a series of four presentations.

All sessions will be held at Curtis Memorial Library’s Morrell Meeting Room in Brunswick on four consecutive Tuesdays from 1 to 2 p.m. beginning May 16.

Our first two session will focus on Death with Dignity Law: Medical, Legal and Ethical Considerations. This is a two-part series with Jon Oxman and Ned Claxton. On May 16 and 23, Jon and Ned will discuss the 2019 Maine legislature bill, the Maine Death with Dignity Act, along with other current statutes, to review the 30-year history of that legislation and legal foundations within the current law. From the legislative perspective they will include consideration of the testimony by advocates and opponents related to the bill and a summary of Maine’s experience with this law so far. From the legal perspective they review some of the key state and federal judicial rulings and statutes that relate to this topic, and their contribution to our current understanding of the law. Throughout these discussions they are hoping to elicit questions and promote discussion of the ethical issues that arise in this medical/legal/ethical arena.

Jon Oxman has been a practicing Maine attorney for over fifty years with experience in medico-legal matters and medical ethics. Ned Claxton transitioned from a primary care physician to become director of a hospital residency program and then a physician leader within the hospital, among other capacities, serving on the Ethics Committee and the hospital board. He is a retired Maine State Senator.

On May 30, James Tierney will present Fifty Years’ Worth of Observation on the Local Area, the State, and the Nation. James will speak about a range of contemporary social issues including the polarization of our society, the pernicious impact of dark money in our electoral system, and the increased importance of state government as opposed to the federal government. He will use our own Town of Brunswick, and the changes Jim has seen in it, as a metaphor to analyze our current challenges and what they portend for our future. And he will have plenty of time for questions. James Tierney, a graduate of Brunswick public schools, is a former Maine Attorney General who transitioned to become an advisor to other state attorneys general and to a teaching career at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.

Our final offering on June 6 will be Healthcare Transitions: Leading through Forty Years of Change with Lois Skillings. Lois was president and CEO of Mid Coast-Parkview Health Systems. A life-long Mainer, Lois is a nurse by training, graduating from University of Southern Maine. She was motivated to join the executive ranks when she participated in the Robert Wood Executive Nurse Fellow Program in 2008. She subsequently was Vice President of Nursing Services at Mid Coast Hospital before becoming President and CEO in 2011.

For more information please visit our website at Midcoast Senior College: midcoastseniorcollege.org, or contact us at 207-725-4900 or email Donna Marshall, Executive Director, mscoffice@midcoastseniorcollege.org