St.Clair Bourne, an Emmy Award–winning documentarian noted for his films about Langston Hughes, Spike Lee, and other African-American artists, sent this e-mail shortly before entering New York–Presbyterian hospital for treatment of a benign tumor.

Bourne had expected to be discharged a few days after surgery, but complications kept him in the hospital. By the morning of December 14, he had developed a pulmonary embolism, and he died the following day. He was 64.

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