This is a spin-off of the People who are more famous after they died thread. My question is, can you think of people who died at what could be considered the “Perfect” time in their lifes?
The two that come to mind for me are John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. Both put to death before they could be tried for their crimes, saving the US a lot of money in trial costs. (Of course, that still leaves the question of were they REALLY guilty up in the air, as no jury was ever able to determine this.)
Twain was born in 1835 when Halley’s Comet appeared. He often predicted that he would die when it re-appeared. He, in fact, did so, in 1910, when Halley’s returned.
Mother Theresa died at just the right time to show everyone what superficial morons they were for making such a huge deal out of the death of Princess Diana.
Alben Barkley, Senator from Kentucky for most of the '30’s and Senate Majority Leader for most of the '40’s, then Vice-President under Truman, was giving a speech at a college when someone asked him whether he felt bad about being now a junior Senator from Kentucky (Barkley had been re-elected to the Senate in '52, but the rules of patronage and seniority meant that he was considered a “freshman” again despite his years as Senate Majority Leader).
Barkley responded “I would rather be a servant in the house of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty.” He then winced, and died of a massive heart attack.
Abraham Lincoln. I have great respect for him. But if he had lived to preside over the problems of Reconstruction, his reputation in history might have suffered. As it is, the timing and other circumstances of his death made him a “martyr” and virtually a secular saint.
Heh-Heh. I hate to admit it, but I’m okay with what JR’s been up to. My only gripe would be that he should’ve stayed with Lydon and let Rotten die. I actually liked a lot of PiL, and surprisingly, some of his other work (Rotten Radio/Rotten TV) have been decent.
I would have to nominate Elvis, although you could also say that it would have been better for him to have died in the fifties before he went into the army. As it was though, it was great timing. He had lived long enough for his life to assume a sort of American epic tragedy quality that contributed to the mythic status he attained after death.
If he had lived much longer, this would have been diminished. Elvis was facing a future of declining record sales, smaller and smaller concert venues, and becoming a pathetic joke because of both the revelations of his ex-cronies over his lifestyle and because the increasingly pitiful and bizarre way he appeared in his public appearances. All of these things were well underway when he died, but it would have gotten worse. If Elvis had lived for five more years, he would have lost Graceland, and ended up living in Tom Parker’s basement doing shows at the Holiday Inn. That would have diminished his appeal for all but his most rabid fans. Yeah, the Big E clocked out at the last possible moment for salvaging some dignity to his reputation.