Travel Forum / Destinations / Asia / August 2008

'100 Things' co-author Dave Freeman dies at 47

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dave Freeman, co-author of 100 Things to Do Before You
Die, a travel guide and ode to odd adventures that inspired readers and
imitators, died after hitting his head in a fall at his home. He was 47.
Freeman died Aug. 17 after the fall at his Venice home, his father, Roy
Freeman, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

An advertising agency executive, Freeman co-wrote the 1999 book subtitled
Travel Events You Just Can't Miss with Neil Teplica. It was based on the
website whatsgoingon.com, which the pair ran together from 1996 to 2001.

"This life is a short journey," the book says. "How can you make sure you
fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on earth
before you pack those bags for the very last time?"

Freeman's relatives said he visited about half the places on his list before
he died, and either he or Teplica had been to nearly all of them.

"He didn't have enough days, but he lived them like he should have," Teplica
said.

The book's recommendations ranged from the obvious - attending the Academy
Awards and running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain - to the more obscure -
taking a voodoo pilgrimage in Haiti and "land diving" on the Island of
Vanuatu, which Freeman once called "the original bungee jumping."

It included goofy graphics with each entry, indicating that some activities
were "down and dirty," and others "grandma friendly."

The success of 100 Things inspired dozens of like-minded books, with titles
such as 100 Things Project Managers Should Do Before They Die and 100 Things
Cowboys Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die.

Freeman graduated from the University of Southern California in 1983,
briefly working for an ad agency in Newport Beach before moving to New York
to work for Grey Advertising.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Freeman watched the second plane hit the World Trade
Center from his apartment just blocks away. He moved back to Southern
California to be closer to his family.