Premature obituaries

"The report of my death is an exag-
geration."
--Mark Twain

In 1897, it was mistakenly rumored that American author Mark Twain (1835-1910) had died. It was his cousin who was ill and Twain set the record straight with the famous quote above. This is often cited as the most well-known instance of a premature obituary, but no death notice was in fact published, as Wikipedia clarifies, while citing dozens of other examples.

On a personal note, my family used to drive over the Mississippi River through Twain's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, on the way to Grandma's house in St. Joseph, and we toured Mark Twain's Cave on two occasions. And as the "Ruler Lady" and graduation coordinator here at Georgetown, I was compelled to choose the photo of Twain in doctoral regalia.