The Bedside Book of Final Words

What would you like your last words to be? For some people, the last thing they ever say turns out to be their most memorable line, while for others, their last utterance is disappointingly (often hilariously) mundane. This book takes a look at the final quotes from famous figures, as well as the stories behind them ? poignant, funny, modest, deluded or philosophical, planned or unplanned. Exclusive cartoons from the pen of Bill Tidy provide the last word on deathbed humour. ?Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.’ JOHN LENNON ?That was a great game, fellas.’ BING CROSBY

Eric Grounds is a former soldier, Olympic sportsman, High Sheriff and Chairman of the Bench who is now a serial charity director. He lives in Northumberland and is the author of I Bet You That?, a humorous look at social history from 1841 to 2000. Bill Tidy MBE was born in 1933. He is a British cartoonist, writer and television personality, known chiefly for his comic strips ?The Cloggies’ in Private Eye and ?The Fosdyke Saga’ in the Daily Mirror. He has been the subject of This Is Your Life and has appeared on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. Sir Richard Stilgoe was born in Camberley, Surrey, in 1943. He became famous on the BBC, notably in Nationwide and That’s Life!, and has hosted a number of quiz programmes on Radio 4. He also wrote the lyrics to Starlight Express and co-wrote the lyrics to Phantom of the Opera with Charles Hart.