Writing Your Obituary for Fun and Fantasy
I suggested to my Lakeland Writers group that it might be a fun exercise for them to write their own obituaries. Alas, I am the only one who did it. I didn’t spend much time writing it and laughed so hard when reading it aloud to the group. May you also be amused. Read on.
Worldwide bestselling author and philanthropist Barbara Meyers passed from natural causes just three days shy of her 112th birthday.
Born in Monett, Missouri, Ms. Meyers spent most of her adult life as a resident of Central and Southwest Florida where she penned more than 100 novels, many of them set in the locales where she lived.
Best known for her Red Bud, Iowa series, the books and movies have grossed over ten billion dollars worldwide.
Under the pen name AJ Tillock, Ms. Meyers was best known for the Grinding Reality series inspired by a lengthy stint as a Starbucks barista. The books, about magical coffee beans which cause temporary shapeshifting when swallowed, were made into one of the longest running Netflix series in history, and the graphic novels are considered collector’s items.
Meyers’s death came as she was putting the finishing touches on the most recent book in her Crimson Coast Denture Society series about a group of geriatric vampires who wreak havoc in a 55-and-over-active- lifestyle community.
Ms. Meyers is well-known for supporting literary causes and for her numerous appearances at writers’ conferences, book clubs and talk shows.
“We’ll miss her,” said many of the members of Lakeland Writers, a group Meyers led up until her death. “We owe all of our success to her.”
“And she never let us forget it,” groused one of the long-time members who declined to be named.
An invitation only memorial service is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. on August 23, 2068, at Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Florida Writers Association Foundation.
