Death Fakers, the Second Rip Van Winkle, and other Tales beyond the Grave

This episode began after an actor that was rumored for decades to be dead, actually died. I thought it was a lighthearted way to touch death and feel more alive than ever, a sort of auditory momento mori, but after outlining the stories, it can also serve as a cautionary tale. 

Leave instructions, pinned to your shirt front or tucked into your wallet by your ID, to have a coroner check for your pulse, then check again and again. Ask that your family grin and bears it if they are asked to identify your remains. It may just be someone that looks like you, and works at the same car wash, and if someone publishes your obit before your death day? Have a laugh and host a living wake at your local tavern.

Let's get into it.

Show Sources and Materials

Subscribe to my substack, Thoughts Scribbled in a Notebook, here! (and thank you!)

Family Was Given His Ashes, then he turned up alive in Oregon, Tacoma News-Tribune

8 People Who Were Mistakenly Pronounced Dead, Everplans

Prematurely Reported Obituaries, Wikipedia

13 People Who Faked Their Own Deaths, Readers' Digest

10 Mysterious Times People Faked Their Own Deaths, WatchMojo.com, YouTube

Supposedly Dead Celebrities who are most probably dead, CRACKED

The Lazarus Effect Surfaces Again after Woman Declared Dead Comes to Life, New York Post

Man Who Came back to Life Dies Two Weeks Later, CNN

Celebrity Death Hoaxes, Spyscape.com

150-Year-Olds ARE NOT Getting Social Security Checks, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell