I didn’t know Harry Stamps, but I really wish I had!
That was great. I particularly like this:
I’d say he won. 
That was outstanding! Thanks for sharing.
I read an obituary once of a man who died two days before his hundredth birthday.
It was a pretty standard obituary up until the last line, which, IMHO, made it immortal.
“The party planned for his one hundredth birthday will go on as scheduled!”
If something like that ever happened to me I hope that’s how my obituary would end. And I would like, instead of cookies or something similar, to have champagne and chocolate covered strawberries served at my funeral reception.
A professor I had in college planned and attended his own funeral when he was 80. He said he knew his funeral was going to be a great party and it would be a shame to miss it. It was billed as “A Wake for the Living,” with eulogies, homilies, and everything. It was a blast!
The prof lived for another 17 years, btw!
I probably would have enjoyed meeting Mr. Stamps, but I definitely would have enjoyed meeting whoever wrote that obit. Amazing!
The Daily Telegraph in London has consistently excellent obituaries.
I’ve got four or five volumes of collected ones - Hugh Massingberd really raised it to an art-form, and his legacy continues. The obit in the OP looks like it was written by someone not unfamiliar with the Telegraph.
Here’s one from last week:
DAMN I wish I could have met Harry! He sounds like a hoot and it’s clear his family loved him dearly.
The Bacon of the Month Club? Where do I sign up?
I might be in the minority, but I don’t like this Harry character.
The word ‘‘foodie’’ in the obit turned me off almost immediately. From starting to read the obit, I somehow guessed that he would be a cat hater - and I was right.
I know I have an unpopular opinion.
Take your pick. I googled it and found at least 5 of them.
Here’s one place! I signed my father up for this as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. He loved it!
After reading that I feel enriched. Thanks for sharing.
RIP Harry.
See, I would have assumed that the plan was to kill him at the end of the party.
Boy, would my face have been red.
double post, sorry
Thanks for sharing. He sounds like a great guy, and his students and family were fortunate to have him in their lives.
This guy certainly sounds like quite a character; the world’ll be a less interesting place without him.
And I’m almost afraid to ask, but what kind of books do you think the Jefferson Davis campus (added in 1965, no less) library needs?
My favorite part was the reference to “his girl, Hillary Clinton”. It was funny because it was unexpected.
You can never have too much Hop on Pop.
It was so tragic the way they hopped on Pop.