In our second look at people who have experienced premature obituaries, we list the undead in politics, literature, and business. Among them is Mark Twain, whose response to his first of two false alarms was “The report of my death is an exaggeration.” This has been misquoted or paraphrased by many other such victims since, somehow acknowledging Twain as the most celebrated (or infamous) of this elite group.

Many political figures are reported dead before the fact, probably to increase the ad revenue of news organizations…

James Brady, President Reagan’s White House Press Secretary, was shot in the head in the 1981 assassination attempt on the President. Despite reports from CBS, NBC and ABC news, both men survived.

President George H. W. Bush collapsed during a visit to Japan. The announcement of his death on CBS Evening News was quickly corrected.

President George W. Bush was reported dead by ETV News in South Africa, apparently due to a “technical mistake.”

CNN posted the obituary of Cuban President Fidel Castro in 2003, describing him as a “lifeguard, athlete, and movie star.”

Dick Cheney's CNN.com obituary

Vice President Dick Cheney was also reported dead by CNN.com in 2003, describing him as “Queen Consort” and “UK’s favorite grandmother.” (see screen shot)

Another pre-written CNN.com obituary in 2003 was that of President Gerald Ford, who in 2006 fulfilled the report.

In 1940, ailing Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey read his obituary in the Chicago Defender. The shock of seeing himself described as “broke, alone and unpopular” – and now dead – triggered a fatal second stroke.

Nelson Mandela, alive today, was obituaried by CNN.com in 2003.

Prince Charles’ grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was announced dead at the age of 93 by the Australian press in 1993. She eventually died at nearly 102 in 2002.

President Ronald Reagan, feared dead but never reported so from his attempted assassination in 1981, was reported dead by CNN.com in 2003, and finally again in 2004.

Retired Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was reported dead by Sky News in 2005 after a hospital visit to address lightheadedness.

Some notable pre-dead literary figures include…

Arthur C. Clarke’s obituary was published by the Goddard Retirees and Alumni Association newsletter in 2000. No retraction was printed, so Clarke eventually complied in 2008.

Ernest Hemingway suffered injuries in a 1954 plane crash, but newspapers reported his death instead. He’s said to have read these obituaries daily until his suicide in 1961.

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” author Ken Kesey faked his own suicide in 1966 to avoid drugs charges. He was later found out, served some time, and eventually died in 2001 – not of a drug overdose.

Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter was announced as dead by a Sky News reporter in 2005, three years before his actual passing.

Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. was reported dead by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2005. He went on to die again in 2007.

Mark Twain was confused with an ill cousin in 1897, but no official Mark Twain obituary was published until 1907 after a yacht he was on failed to show up on time. Twain wrote the retraction himself for the New York Times, and died for good in 1910.

Here are a couple of business pre-obituaries of note…

Apple mogul Steve Jobs had a 17-page obituary published by Bloomberg in 2008, reportedly by accident. They probably use Windows.

Alfred Nobel was widely reported to have died in 1888, apparently mistaken for his deceased brother. Nobel is said to have created the Nobel Prize to avoid future obituaries calling the arms dealer a “merchant of death.” By his death in 1896, public sentiment seemed more appreciative of his life’s work.

O.C. DeeDee
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