controversy over the Eddie Murphy film Coming to America. In the Buchwald v. Paramount lawsuit, Buchwald claimed Paramount had stolen his script treatment. He won, was awarded damages, and accepted a settlement from Paramount. The case was the subject of a 1992 book, Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald v. Paramount. Criticism In Buchwald's later years, his detractors characterized the column as hackneyed, tiresome and not funny. Political analyst Norman Ornstein in 1991 said he thought Buchwald's column was more popular "outside the Beltway"; others disagreed. Roy Bode, editor of the Dallas Times Herald, said that when his paper canceled Buchwald's column in 1989, the editors did not receive a single letter of protest. By contrast, when the paper cancelled the comic strip Zippy the Pinhead, so many readers complained that the editors were compelled to bring it back. In September 2005, Timothy Noah wrote in Slate, "Yes, Buchwald still writes his column. No, it hasn't been funny for some time." Illness and death Buchwald underwent hospitalization twice for mental disorders: once in 1963 for severe depression. In 1987 he was hospitalized for what was then diagnosed as an extreme episode of bipolar disorder, which he had probably had for years. He publicly recounted these experiences in 1999. In 2000, at age 74, Buchwald suffered a stroke. He was hospitalized for more than two months. On February 16, 2006, the Associated Press reported that Buchwald had had a leg amputated below the knee and was staying at Washington Home and Hospice. The amputation was reportedly necessary because of poor circulation in the leg, resulting from diabetes. Buchwald invited radio talk show presenter Diane Rehm to interview him. During the show, which aired on February 24, 2006, he revealed his decision to discontinue hemodialysis, which had previously been initiated to treat renal failure, another result of his having diabetes mellitus. He described his decision as his "last hurrah", stating that, "If you have to go, the way you go is a big deal." He reported that he was "very happy with his choices" and was eating at McDonald's on a regular basis. Buchwald was later interviewed by Miles O'Brien of CNN, in a segment aired on March 31, 2006. Buchwald discussed his living will, which documented his wishes not to be revived if he fell into a coma. As of the date of that interview, Buchwald was still writing a