The reports of my death.... not a chairman's challenge

Mark Twain said ‘the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated’ when he heard that the New York Journal had published his obituary. The same happened to best selling Wellington born author Hesba Stretton. Twice, the Wellington Journal mistakenly reported her death. The first time in 1909 and the second time in 1911. They eventually got it right when she died in October 1911.

The same thing happened to President George Bush recently when a member of staff at a TV station in South Africa mistakenly pressed the wrong button and for three seconds a banner headline crossed TV screens saying ‘George Bush is dead.’

So be warned, if you ever look through the obituary section in the paper for the names of characters etc, you might get a surprise.

As for me I think I’ll give the paper a miss tonight and flick through my book of baby names.