In the book “The Old Man and the Sea”, written by Ernest Hemingway, we find the strength and endurance that a man shows to overcome the difficulties that he finds in the ocean.  However, this aspect of the human being’s endurance is only the package of the true meaning behind the words of this novel.  We have to relate this work to the Existentialism philosophy as Sartre describes in his book “Existentialism and Human Emotions”.  We have to refer to the aspect of trusting in ourselves, that is really what helped Santiago, the old man, to finish gloriously his long venture.  At the first instance, Santiago had to face pain, limitations, and their struggles to catch the Marlin, and when he finally caught the big fish, he had to deal with the suffering to combat the sharks.  First of all, the text shows us that we have to prove what we are, and that we are on a constant trial everyday.  In addition, we see that no matter what the struggles are, if we have a strong attitude and self-confidence we can triumph over our problems.   We understand under this basis that every day we begin a new episode in our life where we have to prove again and again who we are.  In order to analyze better this novel in the aspect related to the self confidence, we need support from other sources.  The first source is the “Twayne’s Masterworks Studies” of Gerry Brenner who does a hard analogy of the “The Old Man and the Sea”, debating its validity as a masterwork.  However, he still supports, in some way, the main message of this book and depicts Santiago as “an elderly citizen struggling to maintain self esteem”.  According Mr. Brenner, Santiago, has the role “as model to an increasing population of fatherless youths who seek meaningful lives, despite he thinks that “Santiago shows quite a normal range of common human ambitions and confusions”.  Mr. Brenner also says that Hemingway, with this novel, created “a work of ideal tendencies”.  In addition, the article “Crucified in the Ring” by W. Wittkowski will be a great collaboration for this subject, which is a work where the author discredits the relationship between “The Old Man and the Sea”, and the biblical similarities, assuring that Santiago’s behavior resembles better a ring fighter than Christ.  Another important article is; “Of the Rocks and Marlin” by E. Dwight where he makes a direct relationship between “The Old Man and the Sea” and “Existentialism”, who agrees with the reasoning of  “everything that makes man work and get excited utilizes hope”, something that relates to the “human condition”.

There is the conception that we are born to be something and somebody in this world; this ideology does not fit in the existentialist philosophy.  However, even in that case we have to show what we are in order to exist in the humanity; if one is a fisherman he has to catch fishes like Santiago who needs to reestablish himself as a fisherman.  Mr. Brenner points out that “the old man needs to be recognized by his fellow fishermen as a professional, thereby ensuring his occupational identity as a productive member of his economy” and “his social identity as a service minded benefactor to his community”.  Santiago is an old fisherman, and he had had bad luck (salao) for eighty days, and despite of that, he still wants to be a fisherman.  But once the opportunity came he took it in order to fulfill his professional expectations.  In the analysis made in the “Twayne’s Masterworks Studies”, it describes Santiago as “a person who experiences trials and tests, that invites us to find meaning in his experience, and that challenges us to assign our significance to that meaning or to different meanings” in searching a motive that is the self-validation.  All of these struggles facings different circumstances aim to test our “character” according Mr. Brenner; he relates this point to the passage where Santiago says “But I will show him what a man can do and what a man endures”

Another important point is having self-confidence.  Many people have disagreed about this matter since there is an important character hidden, or actually masked, behind the text of this story; that is religion.  In addition, Santiago evokes the image of sport stars (Joe DiMaggio) and his glorious memories of the past to increase his endurance to the maximum point.  However, in the same book this issue of religion is disregarded when Santiago claims not to be a religious man.  Mr. Wittkowski says that this “hero” does not deny God, but his attitude does not reflect the behavior of a devoted Catholic.  In addition, Mr. Dwight says that the way how Santiago promises to pray, proves that he is not “so immersed in the task at hand”.  Santiago’s conversation with God is more a reaction of desperation than a religious act, which according him, places the “Christian mode in a subordinate status”.   Furthermore, Mr. Dwight keeps arguing about this aspect saying that “Christianity is not more than trove of sentimental relics, in which he occasionally returns in a moment of conditioned reflex”.  In any case, the old fisherman depended only on himself, in the boat, in the middle of the sea, and it was Santiago by his own convictions, who kept encouraging himself, not to give up, which is taught existentialism supports.  We need self confidence to reach this level of courage in our life to face every single one of our problems.  Mr. Brenner describes this situation as “theme of man’s struggle against the forces of nature”.  In addition, Mr. Wittkowski says that “it calls to mind on the one hand Christ on the Cross, yet at the same time the fighter, too, who sits down, leans against the ropes and relaxes between the rounds”.   Furthermore, the author of the article “Crucified in the Ring” says that Santiago can not be considered gentle, “but rather like a fighter”.  Mr. Wittkowski refers also to “the fighter’s code” which according to him keeps Santiago’s sense of self-fulfillment alive, he “uses it in everything that he does”.   “Santiago regards his profession, fisherman, as the arena in which he wants to establish and maintain mastery in the struggle for victory or defeat”, explains Mr. Wittkowski.  We realize that Santiago’s convictions enable him to endure his suffering and pain, to control his body and mind.  Indeed, during the struggle with the Marlin, the old man has to “reassess” his strengths again and again, “attempting to improve them”, according Mr. Wittkowski.  Actually, this fighter’s code is what makes Santiago respect his opponent, the Marlin, and even to sustain a kind of union between them.  Mr. Dwight relates Santiago’s fight to be a “physical and mentally battle” between his physical limitation and his desire to fulfill his role as a fisherman.

In this book fishing plays an important role as Mr. Brenner says this event remarks “on Hemingway’s mystique of fishing to a universal condition of life”. He assumes, maybe ironically, “The Old Man and the Sea” as a novel of “miracle play against fate”.  In addition there is a quote from the New York Times that; “objected that Santiago was more a symbolic attitude toward life than a man”.  There is an important remark of this critic that says that Santiago’s valiant behavior in front of the forces of nature gives “a victory for the humanity from the jaws of defeat”.  Mr. Brenner in his book refers to another person’s opinion that says that Santiago is a “hero whose triumph consists of stretching his own powers to their absolute limits regardless of the physical results”.   Mr. Wittkowski, in the attempt of braking the supposed liked between Santiago and Christ, defines Santiago as an athlete, actually a fighter where the ring is the sea.  Mr. Wittkowski says, fishing for Santiago is a “source of inspiration” for his “sense of obligation” as a fisherman.  The old man has a passion and respect for the sea environment, and its elements, Mr. Dwight refers the sea as the “antagonist”. In addition, the author of “Of the Rocks and Marlin” says that the ocean “provides both the setting and the challenges that give his victories however provisional and short live their existential significance”.   Actually, Santiago is so identified with the sea that, according Mr. Dwight, he accepts the “rightness of shark behavior” as we can appreciate when Santiago talks about the beauty of the sharks.  When he finally gets the Marlin he exclaims “I killed him… In all his greatness and his glory”.  This entire struggle, suggests that every one has a role to fulfill; Santiago as a fisherman, and the Marlin as a fish.  In addition, we have also the big suffering in the fight with the sharks, where Santiago did not have an option; it was either him or the sharks.

It is almost impossible to avoid the religious connotations that “The Old Man and the Sea” book contains in its narration, beginning with Santiago, whose name, in Spanish means Saint.   Santiago’s name is linked to his altruistic attitude, and who according Mr. Brenner, is “a persevering champion” who is willing to die “for his convictions”.  Many people relate the odyssey of Santiago fishing the Marlin to complete his role as food provider for the community with Christ sacrificing himself for our salvation.  This reasoning relates Santiago’s triumphs as a consequence of spiritual inspiration.  Throughout many passages we find, besides other things, a lot of similarities between Santiago’s three days odyssey, and the Jesus’ walking to the Calvary.  Mr. Wittkowski disregards a religious link in Santiago’s behavior.  He says that Santiago is able to reach his goal by “conjuring as if out of nowhere the necessary strength, both physical and spiritual”.  This point gives credit to the “existential autonomy” in Santiago’s character that come from his “faith, hope and confidence”.

We have to refer to another important character in the text.  Joe DiMaggio was not present in the plot, but he is evoked constantly by Santiago, along his struggle fishing the Marlin, the big fish.  Santiago felt related to DiMaggio since the baseball player’s father was a fisherman also.  Furthermore, there is a deeper link between these two characters, and that is this passion to keep going no matter what the difficulties are.  DiMaggio was one of the greatest, for some people the best, baseball player despite a bone spur that used to make his performance more complicated.  Despite his handicap this baseball player got 56 consecutive game hitting streaks in 1941, something that is more than awesome considering his condition.  And in the same way, Santiago despite a lot of factors that placed him in a disadvantage, he did not let adversity to take him into despair.   Hence, we could say that there is a symbolic relationship between baseball and Self confidence, since during the game the pitcher and the catcher are face to face.  They do not depend of anybody other than themselves, and that is what existentialism promotes, the self-dependence and the self esteem.  There are moments where Santiago hesitates due to the intense situation he was going through.  At some point he says “Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman”, but he keeps encouraging himself saying “but that was what I was born for”, and who, according Mr. Wittkowski, maintains his fighter’s and athlete’s pride at the end. 

Other important episodes are the “arm wrestling” between Santiago and “the Great Negro from Cienfuegos”.  This passage is important for this analysis since there is a moment where Santiago explains that in the second contest, he won the match more by confidence than by strength; something that Mr. Brenner defines as “the confidence of his spirit”.   In addition Mr. Wittkowski point out the “rematch he won easily by breaking his opponent’s confidence”.  This points out, that no matter the skills and the physical strength, self-confidence is what really leads us to achieve our goals; indeed according Santiago “he could beat anyone if he wanted to badly enough”.  In addition we have to refer to the dreams that Santiago has about lions, which could suggest the attitude that Santiago shows as the lion-king of his world; a very appropriate image for Santiago according Mr. Brenner.

There is the necessity to dedicate an additional place for what the old man said during his fishing of the Marlin “a man can be destroyed but not defeated”.  This point highlights the differences between the physical and moral matters, meaning, that one can be physically destroyed but not morally, and spiritually defeated.  In addition we have to talk about “the pain does not matter to a man”, something that suggests that we can control our pain if we have the right attitude for reaching our goals. All of these phrases are what Mr.  Brenner calls “moralizing sentences”, which during Santiago’s ordeal become his philosophy.  It keeps him fighting to succeed to the end; something that leads to valorize Santiago’s behavior.  All of this helps to build up Santiago as the image or symbol of perseverance.  Another example should be when almost of the end of the Marlin fishing, he was going to give up saying that he “is not able for many more turns” but this admission awakes his combative spirit saying “yes you are… You are good forever”.  In addition, during the fight with the sharks he says that he “will fight them until he dies”.  Santiago recognizes his physical limitation, but he relies on his intelligence as advantage and in addition on his “resolution” as his best weapon.  According to Mr. Wittkowski “by having taken such a great risk, he does not believe he has lost the moral right to success at all”, but rather, “he has won it”.   This implies the loss, or the bad conditions of element that prevailed during the Old Man’s ordeal.  Elements like his harpoon, his broken knife, and also his mutilated left hand that Santiago even refers as a “traitor” because, like in other moments, she was not responding as his “friend”.  Mr. Dwight also refers to the scars in Santiago’s hands (like “erosions in the fishless desert”) that are the representation of his “provisional triumphs as a fisherman” over the sea’s adversarial forces.  It suggests that Santiago is not a one day (or three days) hero, but he has been constantly proving himself by his daily labor as a fisherman.  There is another important fragment where Santiago has to hit the shark with his harpoon “without hope, but with resolution and complete malignancy”.  After that he has to keep fighting but, this time without the harpoon, and Santiago has to improvise a weapon with his oar and knife.  At that point exclaims “I will try it as long as have the oars and the short club and the tiller” giving evidence that Santiago is willing to take advantage of his few resources.   Mr. Dwight points out that Santiago does not allow “despair” to beat him up, which would be his perdition under these “odd” circumstances on the sea.  For all of these reasons we can say that Santiago is the example of perseverance and a model of self confidence.

Manolin, former Santiago’s disciple and his best friend, is a key actor in this novel.  When Santiago was not able to catch any fish for various days, Manolin’s parents prohibited him to keep learning from the old man since Santiago was unlucky according them.  However, at the end of the story, Manolin becomes a messenger when he says “the hell with luck” and the he assimilates the massage of the old man’s odyssey saying that “I will bring the luck with me”.  Under this statement we get an important message where Manolin suggests that luck does not control us, but we create it.  This point can be carry out in our everyday activities, since if we are not ready for the opportunities that could show up, luck will be absolutely useless.   

An important contribution for this existentialist philosophy is the author of “The Old Man and the Sea”.  Hemingway did not write this novel during a time when existentialism was already created; Mr. Dwight says Hemingway “discovered existentialism in practice before it was theorized” by people like of Heidegger, Sartre, and Camus.  Hemingway’s own live was surrounded with constant trials, something that invites us to persevere to overcome our problems.  In the book “Twayne’s Masterworks Studies”, the author includes an important fragment from the Hemingway’s book “Death in the Afternoon”, where we have to quote “Courage comes with confidence”; a phrase that we can find it in the chapter 14 of that book.  This point suggests that from confidence, we build up other strengths like, courage, determination, ambition, endurance, etc.  Furthermore, Mr. Wittkowski affirms that “the tendency to reduce and stylize existence to his fighter in the ring mode is easy to recognize in Hemingway’s own life”.  If we read the life of this writer we will find inspiring aspects of his personality as model of self-esteem. 

Mr. Dwight points out that during the fight with the fish “the thousand times he had proved it meant nothing”.  Furthermore, his article refers to the myth of the King Sysiphus, who was condemned to roll a huge rock up hill, only to leave roll down to start all over again.  This passage suggests that the glories of our past are only memories as the episode of the arm wrestling.  Then, every day, we have to start a new test in our life, and prove again and again what we are to fulfill our role in our existence.  In addition, there is a passage where Santiago says “every day is a new day” which supports the basis of existentialism.   Then, whatever that I do today will not signify anything tomorrow, and no matter what glories we got in the past, we still have to prove today what we are, and for that we need confidence.

In summary, we realize that Santiago’s odyssey is more than a story of an old man who caught a big fish and fought with sharks thank to promising preys and evoking a baseball player.  Santiago ordeal gives us message of fulfillment and self-confidence; since the odd circumstances under which he caught the Marlin put him in an absolute disadvantage.  In addition, Santiago’s attitude shows us that no matter what, we have to prove what we are in basis of trusting in ourselves.  Then, we need to have confidence in our own resources and qualities because we are on a constant trial.  Finally, Santiago is model of endurance, since he went through moments were we assumed that he would be defeated by the sea and its elements, but kept fighting to finish with glory this memorable adventure.

1. From an early age … 

Children instinctively know what is hidden in their pants and how to get pleasure, proof game of doctor. Their sexual organs are not developed yet, and the games are not addressed in a sexual context, but anyway they have a pleasant sensation. Even in the fetus stage, the future boys (rarely girls) sometimes made similar gestures in masturbation. 

2. Play their groans 

Strong moans a specific function: the men go faster when women express their ecstatic pleasure aloud. 

3. Section G – men and women 

Mysterious point G, at which men are struggling to locate it on their partners, has several correspondents and the male body. The men are considered points G: bridle prepuce, perineum and prostate cancer, more easily identifiable than the female G-spot! 

4. Liters of sperm 

At ejaculation sperm eliminate about 10 cm3. In life, this means an average 53 gallons of sperm! 

5. Cycle 

It seems that orgasms are more frequent menstrual periods. Too bad that few couples are sexually active during this time! 

6. Marilyn 

One of the most popular female fantasies, Marilyn Monroe, has revealed he never had an orgasm. President Kennedy, Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio certainly appreciated the sincerity of the star … 

7. Faster, faster … 

During ejaculation, sperm is propelled into the vagina with an average speed of 45 km / h. Thus it has the strength to go on the 12 to 16 cm to be fertilized ovum. 

8. And death? 

Orgasm occurs when oxygen-containing nerves in the spine are stimulated, which makes the dead to be able to orgasm, according to a theory that has not yet been tested. 

9. Multiple Orgasms 

Women are able to experience multiple orgasms at once. The record is 134 orgasms per hour, which is more than two per minute! Some women even orgasm while caressing her eyebrows, rubbing his knees or brushing teeth. 

10. Natural Selection 

Orgasm plays a negligible role in the evolution of the human race. Pleasure felt by men during sexual reproduction facilitates. Same for women: pleasure felt thanks, women remain lying down for the sperm to reach the egg. And the fact that female orgasm is more difficult to achieve would be just a tool of natural selection. Only men who have evidence of creativity and intelligence to give women pleasure are those who have the chance to give birth to offspring.

Gallo, who worked for the paper for seven decades, died Tuesday from complications of pneumonia at White Plains Hospital, the News reported Tuesday.

“His death closed a chapter in the storied history of The News,” Daily News Chairman and publisher Mortimer Zuckerman told the paper. “The passing of our great cartoonist, colleague and friend Bill Gallo marks the end of an era.”

Gallo profiled in ink and sometimes in words most of the great sports figures of the past century, going back to Jack Dempsey, Man O’ War, Jesse Owens and Dizzy Dean and his St. Louis Cardinals‘ Gas House Gang.

The latter were his secret heroes, he told The Associated Press in an interview in 2000, because he devoted a lifetime at a drawing board to amusing New York’s rabidly loyal sports fans.

Among his memorable characters, aside from General Von Steingrabber, were Basement Bertha and Yuchie, who represented devoted Mets fans.

The News said Gallo’s last cartoon ran in the paper on April 19. It showed Bertha window shopping and hoping to be invited to the royal wedding.

In a column last year, Gallo said he chose the General Von Steingrabber moniker for Steinbrenner because the Yankees owner grabbed so much of the newspaper’s space.

He once drew an overweight Muhammad Ali pushing his stomach before him in a wheelbarrow. Ali hung the original in his training camp as an incentive to get in shape for the Larry Holmes fight.

But he used his craft to address other subjects as well, including a tribute to the 9/11 firefighters and police officers and the devastation of the terrorist attacks on the city.

His drawings can be found in a Manhattan art gallery and at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He told the AP that as a child, he dreamed of becoming a star reporter like his father, Francisco, a byline writer and editor at La Prensa, New York’s prestigious Spanish language newspaper.

He also dreamed of becoming a cartoonist like Milton Caniff, who drew “Terry and the Pirates,” his favorite comic strip. From age 5, the aspiring artist never left the house without a crayon and a bit of scratch paper.

Gallo was born in Manhattan on Dec. 28, 1922, and grew up across the river in Queens.

He started as a copy boy at the Daily News just after he graduated from high school.

He took a break from the paper to join the Marines during World War II, landing a foxhole on Iwo Jima where 6,820 of his Marine comrades died.

After his WWII service, he returned to the Daily News and enrolled under the GI bill at Columbia University, according to the newspaper.

Laboring for decades for a big city tabloid, Gallo at his drawing board seemed to favor blue-collar spectator sports.

“I think I once did something with lacrosse,” he confessed sheepishly to the AP.

Gallo told the AP he regarded basketball’s Michael Jordan as the most gifted athlete he ever drew, and rated baseball’s Joe DiMaggio, boxing’s Sugar Ray Robinson, hockey’s Wayne Gretzky and football’s Jim Brown as the tops in their professions.

He is survived by his wife, Dolores; his son, Greg; a son, Bill; a brother, Henry; and four granddaughters.

Picture Source

I’m most greatly fascinated by inventions, ideas and people who are or have become timeless iconic symbols throughout time and history. Yesterday I was perusing the bookshelves at my favorite Borders bookstore and came across a book about Marilyn Monroe’s life. Just through passing I knew that Marilyn came from a humble background with a rags-to-riches story. However, I didn’t know that her early years were shadowed with a much more tragic and traumatizing story than her statuesque, flawless model image could ever lead one to imagine alone.

When I discovered that Marilyn was placed in an orphanage when she was only 9 years young, it struck a chord with me. I was an abandoned baby myself left on the steps of a police station with no identifiable belongings, a situation where I’ll never know who my true family is. And because of this, there has always been something about Marilyn’s puppy-dog like vulnerability and need for approval that I could sense and relate to. And, I believe, it was this unique quality, the need for endless adoration, love and acceptance from the world (as a result of seemingly irreparable healing one endures from being rejected and abandoned), that endeared her to my heart and to the countless hearts of millions across the world. A puppy knows it’s alone in the world and no matter how many times it’s abused, neglected or rejected, it will always take all the love it can get (often desperately), it will still love until it can’t love anymore, knowing that tomorrow it could be abandoned altogether again.

From reading a few pages in the biography I was shocked to discover that as a young girl not only was Marilyn sexually abused, but when she spoke up about it she was physically rebuked with a slapped, told she was a liar and how dare she say such a thing about such a nice man. It explains so much to me about how a lady who had excelled to such great heights of fame and fortune could have suffered from the mental anguish and problems that surfaced throughout the later years of her career.

Picture Source

Additionally, Marilyn grew up not knowing who her true father was. Her mother, Gladys, had been in several relationships during the time of her conception. After spending time in an orphanage, Norman Jean Mortenson (her birth name) spent time in a foster home. At the tender age of 16, she married an airplane plant worker named James Dougherty who was 21 years young. Her marriage to him only lasted four years and during that time she began modeling and bleaching her hair the iconic blonde the world came to love and recognize her for.

In 1947 she performed in her first film under a contractual agreement with 20th Century-Fox. After the next few films she made were unsuccessful, she left Fox and went to Columbia Pictures. Throughout filming she continued to model and became Playboy’s first ever centerfold which helped further propel her career.

During the time that she married Joe DiMaggio, the baseball great, she was also drawing impressive box-office numbers. However, sadly, her marriage to DiMaggio lasted only a short eight months.

Marilyn was found dead in her Brentwood home at the young age of 36. During her lifetime she made a total of 30 films. Though her life was plagued with emotional distress and trauma, Marilyn managed to timelessly win the hearts and love of the entire world. Her unabashed need for acceptance and adoring attention made her beloved treasure to all, because if she’s not perfect, if one person stops loving her, it means everyone else could do the same as well. An orphaned, abandoned child knows all too well this feeling.

Joie Schmidt © Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved.

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Dreams of the Heart – volume I by Joie Schmidt is available:

  * Volume I: Amazon Kindle, Adobe Reader, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iPad and iBooks

Dreams of the Heart – volume II is available:

  * Volume II: Amazon Kindle, Adobe Reader

———> Stay tuned . . . vol. II will soon be available on iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iPad and iBooks!

(*In memoriam of the tragedy in Japan all proceeds from – volume I – sales will go to the relief efforts until 3/11/12)

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Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834)

English poet and philosopher, best known for his poems “Kubla Khan” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” In 1816, he overheard his name mentioned in a hotel by a man who was reading aloud a newspaper account of a coroner’s inquest. Intrigued, he requested for the paper, and was told that “it was very extraordinary that Coleridge the poet should have hanged himself just after the success of his play (”Remorse”), but he was always a strange mad fellow.” Coleridge quickly responded: “Indeed, sir, it is a most extraordinary thing that he should have hanged himself, be the subject of an inquest, and yet that he should at this moment be speaking to you.” In fact, there was a man who had fallen from a tree in Hyde Park; and his sole identification was his shirt which bore the mark “S. T. Coleridge.” Coleridge believed the shirt was probably stolen from him.

Marcus Garvey (1887 – 1940)

National hero of Jamaica; Black nationalist and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). After having suffered a stroke in January 1940, he read in the Chicago Defender dated June 10th of the same year his own obituary, negatively describing him as “broke, alone and unpopular.” And as a result, he suffered another stroke and died.

Hiroo Onoda (1922 – )

World War II Japanese army intelligence officer stationed in the Philippines. After the war, he survived three decades hiding in Philippine jungles in the sincere belief that the war had not ended. He, along with three fellow soldiers, continued their battle, executing many local Filipinos in the process. Every effort to convince him that the war was over was considered an enemy trap. Officially declared as dead in 1959, he only yielded himself in 1974, when his commanding officer was called out of retirement to personally order him to surrender. He was accorded a hero’s welcome upon his return to Japan and wrote an autobiography “No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War,” describing his years fighting a war that was long over.

Fidel Castro (1926 – )

Revolutionary leader who led Cuba from 1959 until his retirement in 2008. In 2003, it was discovered that his draft obituary could be accessed from the CNN website without a password. Apparently, it had used Ronald Reagan’s as a template, describing him as “lifeguard, athlete, movie star.”

Joe DiMaggio (1914 – 1999)

New York Yankee baseball player and second husband of Marilyn Monroe. On January 1999, NBC prematurely broadcast his death as a text report moving across the bottom of the TV screen, which was seen by DiMaggio himself. The text was pre-written in response to newspaper reports that DiMaggio was near death due to lung cancer, and put on the air when a technician pushed the wrong button. He died on the 8th of March.

Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961)

1953 Pulitzer and 1954 Nobel Prize-winning American writer and journalist, whose famous novels include “The Old Man and the Sea” and “A Farewell to Arms.” Newspaper reported that he and his fourth wife Mary had perished after both figured in two successive African plane crashes in 1954. However, Hemingway survived, but suffered serious injuries that affected him for the remainder of his life. It was claimed that he reads a collection of his own obituaries every day with a glass of champagne following the incident.

Friedrich Gulda (1930 – 2000)

Austrian classical and jazz pianist and composer. In 1999, he sent a fax report to the Austrian News Agency of his own death from a stroke at the Zurich airport. Not long after, he revealed he was still very much alive and would be performing a “Resurrection Recital” complete with go-go dancers. He frequently played practical jokes to exasperate the musical authorities, thus earning him the title “terrorist pianist.”

Vince McMahon (1945 – )

American professional wrestling promoter and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) chairman. On June 11, 2007 live edition of RAW, he was “presumed dead” after the limousine he entered exploded, and a tribute was instantaneously made in his honor on the WWE website. However, on June 25, 2007, the scheduled memorial for him was cancelled in the wake of the “actual” double murder and suicide of Chris Benoit; instead, he emerged in an empty stadium revealing that the explosion had only been a stunt. The entire planned storyline was immediately discarded in deference for those who had died.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917 – 2007)

American Pulitzer Prize recipient and historian. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentioned about his death on its November 29 2005 edition. Three days later, it withdrew the reference saying, “We are embarrassed but happy for Mr. Schlesinger.”

Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)

Welsh philosopher, historian and mathematician. In 1920, he contracted pneumonia during his one-year teaching stint in Beijing accompanied by his fourth wife Dora; and soon, erroneous reports of his demise were published by the Japanese media. So when he and his wife visited Japan on their return trip, Dora informed the media that “Mr. Bertrand Russell, having died according to the Japanese press, is unable to give interviews to Japanese journalists.” The press did not take the sarcasm well.

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