Is it ever rational to choose death? On Independence Day at Stern Ranch in central California, 77-year-old solar energy pioneer Bob Stern finds out he is seriously ill -- possibly dying. Meanwhile, an elderly in-law is slowly declining on artificial life support in a hospital. Bob decides to cheat that fate and take his own life. His family tries to stop him. Daughter Susan Stern (Barbie Nation) tells the story of her father's quirky, inspiring life and the difficult end-of-life choices faced by an aging population. Part King Lear, part Western, The Self-Made Man is a true-life family drama about a controversial issue: Should we control how we die?

The film tells Bob Stern's life story through a combination of old home movies and Bob's own video documentation of his illness and the decision-making process he uses to decide whether or not to end his life before undergoing heart disease and cancer treatments. It also captures his family's struggle with the end-of-life issues suddenly thrust upon them, confronting the difficult choices faced by our aging population at a time when technology extends death as well as life. The Self-Made Man was produced in association with ITVS and KQED Public Television with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It will be broadcast on PBS's P.O.V. on July 26, 2005.