NEW YORK (AP) – Even though Linda Ellerbee has addressed many tough topics with young audiences before, it took a decade before Nickelodeon approved her idea of a “Nick News” episode where children with terminal illnesses talk about their lives.
Her show, “Before I Go … Living With Dying,” airs on the children’s network Sunday (8 p.m. EDT). The four featured children who are incurably ill address losing friends, fears for themselves and others, and their changed outlook on life.
Ellerbee, who has been making “Nick News” shows for 24 years, said she began pitching the idea 10 years ago after she worked as a hospice volunteer and came into contact with some dying kids.
“I felt that it was an important show, not because half the kids in America are dying – they’re not – but because children have many questions about this,” she said. “It’s such an unknown to them.”
Eventually, she said about network executives, “I think I just wore ’em down.”