Genre-Setting Travel Author Dies at 47

Dave Freeman visited about half the sites on his adventurous list
By Rebecca Smith Hurd,  Newser User
Posted Aug 26, 2008 1:47 PM CDT
Genre-Setting Travel Author Dies at 47
Attending the pyrotechnic Las Fallas festival in Valencia, Spain, was among the 100 things Dave Freeman's groundbreaking travel book advised readers to do before they die.   (AP Photo)

Dave Freeman, co-author of 100 Things to Do Before You Die, died at age 47 after falling and hitting his head at his California home last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. Published in 1999, the free-spirited travel guide, among the first to offer a sight-seeing agenda based on adventure and mortality, spawned dozens of imitators in other genres.

The ad exec had done about half of the things on his list before the fatal fall, with favorites including the pyrotechnic Las Fallas festival in Valencia, Spain. “You should live every day like it would be your last, and there’s not that many people who do,” Freeman’s co-author said. “It’s a credit to Dave—he didn’t have enough days, but he lived them like he should have.” (More book stories.)

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