Elisabeth Kübler-Ross devoted her life to death and dying and achieved worldwide fame in the process. Through her strong commitment to the subject, she has done much to de-stigmatize dying and to draw attention to the treatment of the terminally ill.

Her story is a remarkable one. Born in Zurich in 1926 as a 2-pound triplet, she studied medicine in defiance of her parents' wishes and struggled for recognition as a psychiatrist in the United States. In 1969 she achieved international fame through her work with terminally ill patients in Chicago and her book 'On Death and Dying'. This initial success was followed by countless workshops and lecture tours around the world and the establishment of a healing center in Virginia, which was destroyed by arsonists in 1994. Since that time, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross suffered a series of strokes and lived secluded in the desert outside Phoenix, Arizona.

This remarkably intimate film was made when Kübler-Ross awaited her own death - on the verge of the transition she researched so passionately. Conversations with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in Arizona form the core of the film. She looks back on her life, describes her childhood and her work, and explains how she herself faces aging and impending death. Interviews with her sisters, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival material provide a comprehensive look into the life and work of this extraordinary woman.