It seems paradoxical that a clinical text on the uniqueness of traumatic dying has been so slow in appearing. While traumatic dying has been universally acknowledged with alarm and abhorrence, this anomalism of death has not been recognized in our literature. Perhaps the repugnancy of traumatic dying has resulted in a "blind spot" for the researcher. The responsibility for the avoidance and retribution of unnatural dying takes precedence. Emotional responses and needs are overshadowed by the social imperative of understanding how the death occurred, apprehending and punishing whomever was responsible, and protecting the rest of us from such a trauma.