FOD WIRE | August 27, 2008
The recent death of “100 Things To Do Before You Die” co-author Dave Freeman turned controversial when it was noted that number 72 on the list is “to not die when you’re 47.” Freeman died when he hit his head in his Venice, CA home. Number 62 on the list was to “Run On A Marble Floor That’s Covered In Butter”.
Janice Pound, a spokeswoman for Random House, the books publishers issued this statement, “We are deeply saddened that Mr. Freeman’s life was cut tragically short. At the same time we have an obligation to our readers to investigate the manner in which he died as it relates to statements made in his book. If in fact Mr. Freeman knowingly defrauded the public by dying at 47 years old when his book clearly stated that dying at that very specific age was something NOT to do then we would have no choice but to terminate our contract with the author and pursue immediate legal action.”
The book had recently come under fire from some critics who claimed that some of the 100 things were virtually impossible to accomplish. Other controversial recommendations in the book include: “Have A Threesome With Uma Thurman and Jane Goodall” (#23) and “Go To Ikea With Your Spouse And Don’t Get Into A Fight” (#72). Ms. Pound admitted that Random House had known that Mr. Freeman had not personally completed all 100 things listed in the book prior to it’s publication. “Mr. Freeman and his co-author Neil Teplica stated early on that between them they had completed all 100 of the things you should do before you die. The question is whether or not Mr. Freeman, who footnotes credit as the author of “Don’t Die When You’re 47” knowingly defrauded Random House and his readers.” Literary legal experts say that since the controversy surrounding James Frye’s memoir “A Million Little Pieces” publishers have been very sensitive to lawsuits brought on by customers who feel they have been deceived by non-fiction authors. “If it is found that Mr. Freeman intentionally died at this age we will take appropriate legal action as well as demand that his corpse write an apology to be published in subsequent volumes of “100 Things To Do Before You Die.”
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The recent death of “100 Things To Do Before You Die” co-author Dave Freeman turned controversial when it was noted that number 72 on the list is “to not die when you’re 47.” Freeman died when he hit his head in his Venice, CA home. Number 62 on the list was to “Run On A Marble Floor That’s Covered In Butter”.
Janice Pound, a spokeswoman for Random House, the books publishers issued this statement, “We are deeply saddened that Mr. Freeman’s life was cut tragically short. At the same time we have an obligation to our readers to investigate the manner in which he died as it relates to statements made in his book. If in fact Mr. Freeman knowingly defrauded the public by dying at 47 years old when his book clearly stated that dying at that very specific age was something NOT to do then we would have no choice but to terminate our contract with the author and pursue immediate legal action.”
The book had recently come under fire from some critics who claimed that some of the 100 things were virtually impossible to accomplish. Other controversial recommendations in the book include: “Have A Threesome With Uma Thurman and Jane Goodall” (#23) and “Go To Ikea With Your Spouse And Don’t Get Into A Fight” (#72). Ms. Pound admitted that Random House had known that Mr. Freeman had not personally completed all 100 things listed in the book prior to it’s publication. “Mr. Freeman and his co-author Neil Teplica stated early on that between them they had completed all 100 of the things you should do before you die. The question is whether or not Mr. Freeman, who footnotes credit as the author of “Don’t Die When You’re 47” knowingly defrauded Random House and his readers.” Literary legal experts say that since the controversy surrounding James Frye’s memoir “A Million Little Pieces” publishers have been very sensitive to lawsuits brought on by customers who feel they have been deceived by non-fiction authors. “If it is found that Mr. Freeman intentionally died at this age we will take appropriate legal action as well as demand that his corpse write an apology to be published in subsequent volumes of “100 Things To Do Before You Die.”
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Comments (5)
didnt jane goodall die? and cant we sue random house for proposing a corpse sign an affidavit of appology when we all know the dead cant write?
O My. Love this. Happy to know that other couples also fight at Ikea.
I’m not laughing at the guy’s death, but this was hilarious. Especially “Run on a Marble Floor That’s Covered in Butter.”
JANE GOODALL HAS TO BE LIKE 80 YRS OLD AND HAS HAD SEX WITH APES. THATS WHAT I HEARD. EEEWWWWWW
Shitty editing on this news story. GOD.
“…it was noted that number 72 on the list is “to not die when you’re 47.””
and later
“…“Go To Ikea With Your Spouse And Don’t Get Into A Fight” (#72).”
Get on this FOD staff. Srsly. Like – srsly.