6/21/2026
Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas? by David N Thomas 2008 a brief review
Dylan Thomas is a poet known for “Do not go gently into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the light”. It’s part of a longer poem and at the end of it it says that it’s to an old man whom was reportedly his father.
Although this book is out of print the author David N Thomas has placed much of this information on his personal website. I was able to locate the personal website and I learned much about the death of Dylan Thomas.
There were four characters involved. The manager who wanted him to keep going because he earned a 25% Commission. The manager was not encouraging him to continue rehearsing a play while he was ill. The manager was in Boston or Cambridge at the time and he cannot be responsible. After Dylan Thomas’s death the manager wrote a book about Dylan Thomas that was well received. The wife was reported to have said “Isn’t that bloody man dead yet?” But she was not with him at the time and not forcing him to go on stage and not to seek medical attention. She was just bitter because he had a girlfriend. The girlfriend was the touring manager and she wanted Dylan Thomas to keep to his touring schedule, but Dylan Thomas also wanted to do this play. Both the real villain of this story was the doctor who injected him with a large amount of morphine which slowed and stopped his breathing after a three day coma. I don’t understand why they didn’t put him into some kind of oxygen tent or a respirator and give him antibiotics. Unfortunately nobody sued the villainous doctor. The evidence did not show that he died from alcoholism or from smoking but these two things cannot be possibly be good for him and probably he would not have died had he not done these things.
The ultimate irony of Dylan Thomas’ death is although he wrote this poem and even his second poem called “And death shall have no dominion” died at the young age of 39 From both medical malpractice and from poor health habits. Who killed Dylan Thomas? The answer is a variety of people and situations including himself were responsible for his death.
Macy Makes Magic 