Cheryl J
techmanAuthor of '100 Things to do before You Die' has died age 47
August 27th 2008 14:25
Dave Freeman, an advertising agency executive who co-wrote "100 Things to Do Before You Die," a travel guide to inspire travelers to treat each day as if it may be their last died August 17 after falling and hitting his head at his home in Venice. He was 47.
Relatives have said that he managed to visit just over half of the places he wrote recommended in his famous 1999 book.
The guide, subtitled "travel events you can't miss" was one of the first books to create a travel plan based on 100 sites and then market it with a title that reminded mortal readers that time was limited. It became a best seller shortly after publication and spawned an entire genre.
The "100 Things" approach later swept the publishing industry, said Neil Teplica, who wrote the book with Freeman. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Teplica said he and Freeman had come up with the idea for 100 things To Do Before You Die after being inspired by some of the off-the-wall listings for obscure events and public festivals that appeared on www.whatsgoingon.com, a cult travel internet site they jointly ran from 1996 to 2001.
The title meant "you should live every day like it would be your last, and there's not that many people who do," Teplica told The Times. "It's a credit to Dave -- he didn't have enough days, but he lived them like he should have."
"This life is a short journey," read the introduction by Freeman and his co-author Neil Teplica, which summed-up the book's spirit. "How will you make sure that you will fill it with the most fun, and that you visit all the coolest places on earth, before you pack those bags for the very last time?"
Freeman's father Roy was quoted as saying said his son's favourite line was: "We're going to the future. Do you want to come along?". "It always made everybody laugh," he said.
Ranging from the participatory to the sedate, their list includes the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska; the Pageant of the Masters in Southern California; Mardi Gras in New Orleans; the World Cow Chip Throwing Championship in Beaver, Oklahoma; Carnival in Brazil; Bastille Day and the Cannes Film Festival in France; Oktoberfest in Germany; the Running of the Bulls in Spain; Yom Kippur at Israel's Western Wall; the Pushkar Camel Fair in India; the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan; and Australia's Nude Night Surfing Contest.
Information from The LA Times and The Independent World
Relatives have said that he managed to visit just over half of the places he wrote recommended in his famous 1999 book.
The guide, subtitled "travel events you can't miss" was one of the first books to create a travel plan based on 100 sites and then market it with a title that reminded mortal readers that time was limited. It became a best seller shortly after publication and spawned an entire genre.
The "100 Things" approach later swept the publishing industry, said Neil Teplica, who wrote the book with Freeman. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Teplica said he and Freeman had come up with the idea for 100 things To Do Before You Die after being inspired by some of the off-the-wall listings for obscure events and public festivals that appeared on www.whatsgoingon.com, a cult travel internet site they jointly ran from 1996 to 2001.
The title meant "you should live every day like it would be your last, and there's not that many people who do," Teplica told The Times. "It's a credit to Dave -- he didn't have enough days, but he lived them like he should have."
"This life is a short journey," read the introduction by Freeman and his co-author Neil Teplica, which summed-up the book's spirit. "How will you make sure that you will fill it with the most fun, and that you visit all the coolest places on earth, before you pack those bags for the very last time?"
Freeman's father Roy was quoted as saying said his son's favourite line was: "We're going to the future. Do you want to come along?". "It always made everybody laugh," he said.
Ranging from the participatory to the sedate, their list includes the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska; the Pageant of the Masters in Southern California; Mardi Gras in New Orleans; the World Cow Chip Throwing Championship in Beaver, Oklahoma; Carnival in Brazil; Bastille Day and the Cannes Film Festival in France; Oktoberfest in Germany; the Running of the Bulls in Spain; Yom Kippur at Israel's Western Wall; the Pushkar Camel Fair in India; the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan; and Australia's Nude Night Surfing Contest.
RIP Dave.
Information from The LA Times and The Independent World
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Comment by Cibbuano
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...why would he write on things that he's never done?
Comment by serendipity
Comment by alt_ed
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Comment by Cheryl J
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I think the places he wrote about were all goals. But yes, it must be hard to write a travel guide about things you haven't seen or experienced yourself. I'm glad he got to do a lot of them though. He packed a lot into his 47 years.
Comment by Cheryl J
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I think if they put the definition of ironic in the dictionary this would have to come pretty close.
Hi Alt_ed
Very true! There also not going to be 100 thing I do before I die either. Running with the bulls - madness!
Comment by Mountain Fog
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it would have been much more exciting, and ogg do for book sales no doubt, had he died doing one of his '100 top things' for instance;
pity he wasn't gored to death by the bulls, or accidentally killed by the goat during the annual 'throw the goat off the top of the church' event in Spain, or taken in the nude by a shark... I know, a new book, 100 ways to die on the front page! MY IDEA FOLKS!!! Unless you want to help me write it...I am very lazy.... and tired... huff!
cheers
fog
Comment by Cheryl J
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It does seem weird that something so mundane as falling in his own home did him in when he had done at least half of what was in his book and had probably been in many dangerous situations. But then don't they say that most accidents happen in the home?
Well at least he didn't die by having a vending machine fall on him. There's an urban legend that there are at least two people a year that die that way.
Comment by Mountain Fog
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HAHA!! Yes, I can see the headlines now, croked on a coke!
tee hee
cheers
fog