Peak performance in the death crisis as a critical incident of creative response to the awareness of one's own or another person's death is the concern of this report. The topology of peak performance in the death crisis was examined in an investigation of retrospective self-reports of 20 adult respondents and a factor structure of peak performance provided by 120 respondents in psychology, creative arts, adult education, and counselor education. Further examination of data contributed by respondents who reported peak performance in death crises indicated that value, loss of time and space, spontaneity, and meaning were among experiential factors considered important in personal events. The resulting topology provides a tentative model for death counseling and education, offering a positive alternative to interventions based on a perspective of pathology. (Author/JAC)