Final Exits by Michael Largo


	Why a book about death?
	To die, kick the bucket, cross over to the other side, to meet the Maker, to be dead as a doornail, to get wasted, whacked, smoked, to sleep with the fishes, bite the dust, put on the wooden overcoat, or sleep with Jesus; whatever death is called, it’s going to happen. I’d say, death is a fairly important topic and, like it or not, is in the cards for all of us. You know the quote by Ben Franklin, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Taxes—some say it depends on your accountant—but death, it remains a certainty.
	What inspired you to write Final Exits?
	What I set to find out was the HOW—how do we die? It seemed a puzzle that in 1700 there were less than 100 causes of death described on death certificates, while today there are over 3,000.
	We die differently now?
	The medical aspect of how a person dies has remained the same since prehistoric times—the heart finally stops beating—yet many things that cause death has changed. With each advance in technology we discovered brand new ways to become deceased. I saw how the connection in the variety of ways in which people met their destiny exemplified clearly how they lived. As a result, death becomes a benchmark of our culture, and I set out to gauge the rising water, to discover how it was we died before and how it is we die now.
	How has dying changed?
	Today, although we live longer, people are killed by everything, from cell phones, washing machines and lawn mowers to the boundless catalog of man-made medicines. Changes in transportation, from the horse & buggy to spacecraft, have vastly affected the landscape of death. Modern leisure activities, such as snowboarding and hang gliding, give new perspective to human lifespan. Modifications and enhancements applied to age-old activities— from sex to warfare— prove there are yet new and astonishing ways to perish. This book unearths the facts on the most common ways to die, the strangest ways to go, and the fatal aberrations and oddities that marked the unluckiests’ final exits.
	Can you give an example of how death has changed over the last century?
	100 years ago people were concerned that they would be truly dead when they died--and not buried alive. That sounds strange to us when now we need court orders and government legislation to remove life-support. Now there=s groups like the Hemlock Society that help people choose their own schedule when to meet death. In contrast, the Victorians fear of premature burial became nearly fanatical. Citizen groups like the Society for the Prevention of People Being Buried Alive became popular. They advocated for the deceased to be left lying in their caskets for days or weeks, if necessary, before being considered adequately dead to bury. This postponement ritual was often carried out to a weird extreme. When the Duke of Wellington died in 1858, he was not buried until two months after his death.
	What did you learn from cataloging all the different ways we go?
	Americans die everywhere, doing everything —2.4 million last year—though many could have enhanced their odds of survival if they knew the facts. It’s surprising to learn how many people actually expired in a plane, an elevator, pushing through a revolving door, on skis, sleeping on a waterbed, driving a taxi, at the end of a rope, while working behind the counter at a convenience store, while laughing, from hiccups, during or after divorce, while dancing in a night club or while praying in church. The numbers and trends make clear how some activities are more dangerous than any of us would have believed. They also undoubtedly disclose the arbitrary—though sometimes predictability—of human fatality in a startling new way.
	What was the most striking thing you learned writing this book?
	You die as you lived. But, then again, not always; maybe death is as random as it is predicable. Others say when your time comes it has to do with destiny or fate, which is a whole lot easier to figure out after it's over than while it's happening. Life is capricious, this is certain. Death, when it comes, strikes with impulsiveness. Who it chooses often seems inconsistent; if it were human we would say that Death is a moody mother. Death always has a problem with timing, our timing at least, and it is entirely irresponsible in its choice of the final day, the last moment that marks the end of the physical body. What Death must hear most from whom it comes to take is, A Why now? The answer seems to be, A Why not now--then when?
	Was there a particular incident that makes you think this way?
	One man survived the collapse of the Twin Towers. Two and a half years later on his way home from the city he is one of the 13 who died when the Staten Island Ferry slammed into a pier. A Why not now--then when?
	Can you give an example of another arbitrary fatal mishap?
	For me, one of the unluckiest had to do with a jet skier. He was employed to test drive a jet ski in a remote lake in Florida, specifically chosen because there were no tourists or other boats to crash into. He’s speeding along when out of the blue he’s clocked in the head by a flying duck. Hitting a duck a 60 mph is like getting clobbered by a cinderblock. In the book I list many similar examples.
	How much time did you spend on research?
	It took more than ten years to gather the seemingly infinite statistics on fatality into an informative, and I hope, enlightening and entertaining book. I had the concept to write a book about how society changed from 1900 to 2000. I began the project in the early 1990s, and I thought about measuring and chronicling the most basic advancements and trends which affected our quality of life, with the hope of completing the book in time for the millennium. It took much longer to finish than anticipated.
	When did you become fascinated with the topic?
	My interests in the causes of death go back to early childhood. When I was young, my father, an NYPD detective, occasionally took me from the comfort of our quiet Staten Island neighborhood into Manhattan where he worked. His spur-of-the-moment tours of the city were both exhilarating and scary. Instead of pointing out the typical sightseeing landmarks, my father offered comments about an ordinary looking street corner or a seemingly innocuous building; he knew the exact number of fatalities, murders or mishaps that previously occurred at each of these places and would reveal small details to me. Although he intended these tours to be an education in the necessity of being cautious and alert, what struck me was that no one else, the pedestrians on the corner, or the building’s occupants, were aware of this past history. I thought a sign should have been posted—something to help it from happening again. Since then, I’ve been fascinated with the varied ways people have died and became an avid collector of strange stories, curious facts and all things pertaining to our mortality. I wanted to make a definitive source book on the way we die without being macabre, grim or moralizing.
	How did you gather all the statistics?
	I started by counting, deciphering records, and sifting through the numbers to determine the actual things that kill people. This was not as easy as I first thought. There’s still no standard in filling out death certificates; local, state and national recording agencies are not wired together, and many times the attendant completing the required form at the bedside or at the morgue have a limited history of the person being duly pronounced.
	Aren’t death certificates clear?
	Everyone seems to have special interest in the way the dead are tallied. Gun lobbyists put their spin on handgun fatalities. Some pharmaceutical companies, fad diet promoters or certain plastic surgeons might stand to lose a lot of money if the true numbers are revealed. The bartering of body counts equals dollars; product improvements, the food we eat, the air we breathe at work, the roads we drive on, the clothes we wear––none of these issues will be made safer and less lethal unless the actual fatality numbers are known. Some special interests may not like the death tallies recorded in Final Exits but they are in fact the numbers I gathered from over fifty government agencies.
	What criterion did you use?
	To get listed in this book a person had to be certifiably dead; being on life-support or wishing they were dead didn’t get them counted here. I know that the dying part, right before death, is a sad and profound event, and of course I’ve experienced first-hand the loss of ones close and dear to me. Ultimately, every death is a micro-tragedy, and has to count for something. Those before us may be gone, but in this book, they won’t be forgotten. Instead, they’ll instruct us, alarm us, titillate us and sadden us with the way they went.
	How do you think people respond to the subject?
	Some people avoid it, yet death is a potent element in our everyday life. We’re not necessarily aware of it all the time, but it has infused our language. You’ll be the death of me, dead man walking, dead presidents, drop dead gorgeous, over my dead body, knock ‘em dead, until death do us part, are some of the phrases used frequently in our daily speech. Even though death is most often the term used to describe a condition for which medicine has yet to find a cure, it’s here to stay in all its various incarnations.
	What is a benefit one could hope to get by reading this book?
	It’s been said by many, thinkers greater than I, from Kierkegaard to the Dali Lama, that ignoring death leads to less prosperous living. Contemplation of our mortality can give a new perspective, keeping the importance of trivial things…trivial. Each day is truly a gift we must embrace with everything we have. Hug someone, smell a flower, kiss a tree. Sure, we all know we’re going to die—it’s in the contract— and in a healthy way we shouldn’t overtly dwell on it. But if given a chance to increase the odds, an opportunity to avoid the randomness of the entire affair, would you take it? The decisive evidence found in fatality numbers among an age group, or figures on a certain destructive activity, I presented in this book, serve to educate and may even save lives.
	Is there anything we could do to avoid dying prematurely?
	There is something you can do to increase your chances for a healthy and long life: Read this book and understand how those who departed before you did indeed depart. I predict that those who buy this book will gain—at the minimum—an average of two extra years of life. My greatest hope is that the information I’ve gathered here might help save even only one life.