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    Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980's
    Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980's
    Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980's
    Ebook71 pages1 hour

    Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980's

    By John Barber

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    About this ebook

    As Shakespeare once said: ‘We all have our exits and our entrances.’

    This is a collection of news stories from the 1980’s. They are real news items from around the world. The one common factor is that they all have a reference to death. Not just deaths of people and animals and the strange ways some have met their end but wills with eccentric clauses, misbehaving ghosts and the end of inanimate objects like rail routes.

    Some of these stories are sad, some amusing, some quite odd. There is no comment on any item and the news is printed exactly as was reported. They have been kept in scrapbooks throughout the 1980 decade. At the time they fascinated the author, made him smile or brought a tear to his eye. The intention is not to offend but to bring a rarely discussed subject to a wider audience.

    You can read this book from first chapter to last but it is intended as something to pop into haphazardly; a potpourri, a farrago, a brush with serendipity.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Barber
    Release dateSep 23, 2014
    ISBN9781311230065
    Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980's
    Author

    John Barber

    John Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. The Education Act of 1944 saw great changes in the way the nation was taught; the main one being that all children stayed at school until the age of 15 (later increased to 16). For the first time working class children were able to reach higher levels of academic study and the opportunity to gain further educational qualifications at University. This explosion in education brought forth a new aspirational middle class; others remained true to their working class roots. The author belongs somewhere between the two. Many of the author's main characters have their genesis in this educational revolution. Their dialogue though idiosyncratic can normally be understood but like all working class speech it is liberally sprinkled with strange boyhood phrases and a passing nod to cockney rhyming slang. John Barber's novels are set in fictional English towns where sexual intrigue and political in-fighting is rife beneath a pleasant, small town veneer of respectability. They fall within the cozy, traditional British detective sections of mystery fiction. He has been writing professionally since 1996 when he began to contribute articles to magazines on social and local history. His first published book in 2002 was a non-fiction work entitled The Camden Town Murder which investigated a famous murder mystery of 1907 and names the killer. This is still available in softback and as an ebook, although not available from Smashwords John Barber had careers in Advertising, International Banking and the Wine Industry before becoming Town Centre Manager in his home town of Hertford. He is now retired and lives with his wife and two cats on an island in the middle of Hertford and spends his time between local community projects and writing further novels.

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      Book preview

      Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980's - John Barber

      Death, Dying and Disappearing in the 1980’s

      News stories collected

      by John Barber

      Copyright 2013 John Barber

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1 – We all have our exits

      Cure for toothache • Cliff hanger • Shortage of alcohol • Playing the ace • Petrol rationing •

      Sex slaves • Drowning • DIY • Hand made guillotine • Coffin • Out of order • (S)mothered • Killer whale • Crush by piano • Blow up • Double trouble • Mistaken identity • Clubbing • Cess pit • Top secret • Friendly fire • Boiling mud • Electric fish • Fatal kiss • Lightning strikes twice • Eaten by snake

      Chapter 2 – The last days of …

      Sixpence • Melbourne Mercury • Turtle island • Heat drives out villagers • Last of the Organ Grinders • Mongol Lord • Lake disappears • Mucking

      Chapter 3 – Ghosts

      Ghostly miner • Council house ghost • Hitch hiking ghost • Prison ghost

      Chapter 4 – Facts and figures

      Deadlegs • Killer brollies • Running out of time • The quiet guest • DIY • Carved in stone • Tramp embalmed • George V • Dead Sherriff elected • Card playing • Life members • Drive through funeral parlour • Halifax gibbet • Booze missile • No smoking • Heaven and Hell • Green land • Beating the odds

      Chapter 5 – Murder

      The Evil Bass • Contract killing • Parking tickets • No return • Manhattan murder • Moustache King

      Chapter 6 – Obituaries of the not so famous

      Leslie Welch • Queen Modjadji IV • Peter Cavanagh • Jane Comfort • ‘Professor’ Patrick Cullen • Chief Lame Fox • Tom Keating • The Skating Granny • Man dies aged 157 • Albert Hirst • Stella Walsh • Fred Hill

      Chapter 7 – Suicides

      Suicide forest • Failed again • Kills three • Re-united • Final success • Football fanatic • ‘I will return • Oldest suicide • Final curtain • Second time lucky • Law suit

      Chapter 8 – Wills and bequests

      The Jesus bequest • £1.75million to RSPCA • £750,000 for mushrooms • House has to go as well

      Chapter 9 – The Animal Kingdom

      Lusty bull • Buffalo soldier • Flea circus • Pelican • Hot hippos • Gastric brooding frog • Fish pie • Mobile crematorium • Venus fly trap • Man bites dog • Shark attacks boat • Zebra suicide • False teeth for sheep • Pike

      Chapter 10 – The Arts World

      Skeleton chair • Playing dead • Ink stand • Ghost writer

      Chapter 1 – We all have our exits

      Cure for toothache

      Walter Hallas was so afraid of the dentist he asked a friend to cure his toothache with a punch to the jaw. His mate obliged and when he was hit he fell to the ground and died later from a fractured skull.

      Mark Waldron appearing at the Magistrates Court said that he never intended to hurt Waiter. ‘We had always been

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