The Economist Book of Obituaries

by Keith Colquhoun and Ann Wroe


The Economist Book of Obituaries is a marvelous collection of 200 lives, from the prominent (Hunter S. Thompson, doctor of gonzo journalism: "Explosions were his specialty. Indeed, writing and shooting were much the same." Or George Harrison: "This may prove to be a long goodbye."), to the relatively obscure (Marie Smith, the last speaker of the Eyak language, for whom "the death of Eyak meant the not-to-be-imagined disappearance of the world." Or Yasser Talal al-Zahrani, a prisoner in Guantánamo: "He had sheets and clothes from which, thread by thread, he could make a rope."). (from shelf awareness)

My favorite entry?

Robert Rich, inventor of frozen non-dairy topping, died on February 15, 2006, aged 92:

To top it all, in wartime, heavy whipping cream was a banned substance . . . To dream of an éclair or a cream puff, even of a modest dollop nestling a cherry or topping off a sundae, was close to a traitorous act . . . Mr Rich, however, dreamed often of whipped cream . . . thick, indulgent, faintly golden and utterly unwarlike.