michael moorcock was reported as having died of cancer. Why?

[Anonymous]

I was a very avid fan, still am, of michael moorcock's writings. At the back of one of the "Mars" series books he was reported to have died of lung cancer in 1975. I was shocked. I am glad now to know it was not the case. I am assuming they did this with his approval. Why report the death if it was not true? I wondered if his recent writings were published posthumously. Obviously not the case. I think it was Oscar Wild who said that the story of his death had been greatly exagerrated. I am left wondering about this. I am fascinated by this story and would be interested in hearing Mr Moorcock's account of how it came about. It sounds like an interesting one.

[Michael Moorcock]

I published that in Breakfast in the Ruins, when I reached the age of 30. I didn't expect anyone to believe it, but clearly a lot of people did. I decided that by 30 I had to stop running from my demons and facing them, since too many sf writers of my time did all their best work before they were 30, then became self-imitating. Worst thing that happened to me was doing a big gig at the stadium in Liverpool and I thought the audience were shouting 'You're dead' -- meaning they didn't like me.
Turned out they were shouting 'We thought you were dead!" That'll teach me to expect everyone to get an ironic joke. I've dropped it from more recent editions.

[Jerico]

That's crazy stuff!

[xidrep]

Jings!
I'm seven years past my sell-by date already! :(

[Bob]

Well, abiding by this logic I have a good 8 years in me. Christ, I'd best use them!

[Mikey_C]

Re: michael moorcock was reported as having died of cancer.

I think it was Oscar Wild who said that the story of his death had been greatly exagerrated.

Actually, it was Mark Twain. Of course, in another part of the Multiverse, Michael Moorcock did indeed die in 1975, but that's a different story!

[Hans von Hammer]

i'm dead...

[Mikey_C]

It is indeed possible that we all died in '75, and this is the afterlife. Not quite what I expected, but at least we still get good books to read. :lol:

[Lurue-Blackheart]

I wish I was even alive in 75 lol!........or maybe not.....

[Mikey_C]

No you don't! Course, it could have been a past incarnation.......

[xidrep]

I bought most of my demons a ticket to Siberia on my 33rd Birthday and they never came back.
That'll larn 'em!

[DeeCrowSeer]

Personally I'm hoping that my life will "begin" around the age of 30. For some reason my life seems to have been delayed in the post, and playing swingball with my demons is getting old.

So fingers crossed and roll on the big three-oh!

[xidrep]

Yes, them demons always whack the ball so's the string gets all caught up on the spiral wossname (Sudden realisation - Perdix can remember when Swingball came out - I mean, originally, like, in the '70's. 8O ).

Anyway, being the type of chrononaut fitted with emotic potential retrodrive, I can zoom up and down the temporal column of my existence, so its hard to tell my true age...Basil Liddell-Hart said that everyone should be listed as having two ages: Physical & mental. So I'm 37 and, er...eight? I don't think my motivations have changed much since then.

Well, most of them.

I didn't have a mortgage then.

Or a wife.

Erm..

[deanmottershead]

did not clint eastward not also say romours of my death have been greatly exgzagted (sorry about spelling )

[McTalbayne]

Not that it matters, Mike, but im glad youre not dead.