Now Robert Buckman, there's an atheist I could never get tired of hearing from!

October 11, 2011 11:01 PM

Robert Buckman, Oncologist, Comedian, Good Without God, died this weekend at age 63.
posted by Chuckles (15 comments total)

Robert was well-loved in the oncology community, by patients and colleagues alike. I appreciated my few encounters with him at PMH; he was a funny and compassionate man. His death came up at my support group tonight and there were more than a few tears shed for him. He will be missed.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 11:20 PM on October 11, 2011

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posted by Philofacts at 12:26 AM on October 12, 2011

“At my funeral,” he wrote, “they’re going to play a recording of me saying, ‘Thank you so much for coming. Unlike the rest of the rest of you, I don’t have to get up in the morning.’ ”

And here's to a well-earned lie-in.
posted by three blind mice at 12:46 AM on October 12, 2011 [4 favorites]

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posted by SuzySmith at 1:47 AM on October 12, 2011

Thank you for having lived so well, Robert Buckman.
posted by nickyskye at 5:12 AM on October 12, 2011

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posted by tykky at 5:12 AM on October 12, 2011

Safe journey.
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:23 AM on October 12, 2011

He fell asleep on a transAtlantic flight and died? I can't imagine being on that airplane. What a freaky, freaky thing. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Such a loss.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:07 AM on October 12, 2011

Saw him all the time on TVO. When I was much younger I always thought he'd make a spectacular Doctor Who. Very surprised to hear he has passed away so young.
posted by juiceCake at 6:19 AM on October 12, 2011

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posted by shakespeherian at 6:39 AM on October 12, 2011

Oh no! This is terrible. I met him and heard him speak at Grand Rounds several times when I was in nursing school. I remembered him from way back since I grew up watching him on Don't Ask Me (along with "SCIENCE!" Magnus Pyke) and he seemed genuinely tickled about that.

He'd had an autoimmune disease and never looked terribly healthy since, but he was a lovely person, always had a minute to say hello and it seemed to me that he always came down on the right side of things. He really cared about people. He was one of the good ones, what a loss.

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posted by biscotti at 6:42 AM on October 12, 2011

What a freaky, freaky thing.

Strangely enough, death is really not that uncommon.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 7:14 AM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

What a freaky, freaky thing.

In the pantheon of ways people die, checking out in your sleep on a transatlantic flight is probably one of the better ways to go. Still, it's a terrible loss. Buckman was a clever, funny guy who made life more interesting and more fun for many, many people.
posted by runningdogofcapitalism at 7:27 AM on October 12, 2011

Oh, how sad. I remember him from the TV show Don't Ask Me, and that show has a lot to do with why I'm interested in science today. Of course, he has done a lot more since then. 63 seems so young, somehow.
posted by FishBike at 8:55 AM on October 12, 2011

His autoimmune disease can be associated with an underlying cancer.

Always makes me wince a little when a cancer treatment provider develops a rare cancer or cancer-related condition.
posted by jamjam at 11:12 AM on October 12, 2011