Humorist Art Buchwald

Legendary newspaper columnist and humorist Art Buchwald has always been the life of the party. This year, Buchwald's party trick got serious. He almost died.

In February, with failing kidneys and the doctors saying he had only weeks to live, the 80-year-old wit checked in to a Washington hospice and prepared for the great beyond — made funeral plans, gathered eulogies, said goodbyes.

But death never came to Art Buchwald. By summer, he pinched himself, decided he would be sticking around, and checked out of the hospice. Now, he's written about his brush with eternity with all the high humor of a lifetime of pointed laughs.

This hour On Point: to death's door and back with humorist Art Buchwald.

Guests:

Art Buchwald, humorist and columist, author of "Too Soon to Say Goodbye"

Mike Wallace, longtime CBS news correspondent and former co-host of "60 Minutes."

More:

Quotes from the show:

"On the whole I woke up in the morning and was happy to be alive." -Art Buchwald

"I didn't go on dialysis because I was 81 years old and I'd done everything I wanted, or so I thought." -Art Buchwald

"I became a hero to everyone because I didn't take dialysis and was still alive." -Art Buchwald

"I think Buchwald stopped being funny a long time ago ..." -Mike Wallace

"Mike is just a very wealthy man, that's all." -Art Buchwald

"I wrote a piece for his [Art's] book and said that he's a guilty fraud. ... He wanted a thousand bucks from me to sign the cast on his leg." -Mike Wallace