The Wife sent me a link to the Wikipedia page of Alan Dundes, a professor of folklore at Berkeley, whose class we took together many, many years ago. She highlighted the final paragraph of the article, which concerns his final words:
Dundes collapsed while giving a graduate seminar; the topics that week were Marxist and Feminist theory, both approaches that Dundes disliked intensely, but thought were nonetheless important for his students to be acquainted with. He left his audience with a cliffhanger. He was introducing the topic (Marxist theory) and then said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "But there are really only two uses for Marxist theory in folkloristics..." and then collapsed.
Well done, Alan! This makes me want to concoct a similar open-ended gnomic utterance, which I will then pronounce when I feel the Big One coming on. That's dying with style.
I think a Fermat's Last Theorem approach is a great way to insure that your name lives on.
"I've just discovered a fascinating method of demonstrating an unmistakable connection between Aramaic and Proto Germanic. We don't have time for it today, but on Thursday, aaaaaaaahhhhh......"
Posted by: Peter | January 19, 2008 at 08:56 AM
In a perverse way, I've thought it would be fun to say...
"You'll find the bodies are buried at......arrrrggggh...."
Posted by: Rob | January 19, 2008 at 09:40 AM
Surely you mean, "You'll find the bodies are buried at the castle......arrrrggggh...."
Posted by: The Tensor | January 19, 2008 at 09:53 AM
it'd be fun to look at whoever is closest to one's self at the time of death and say "you killed me, you ... killed... me"
Posted by: timb | February 02, 2008 at 03:53 AM