The last days of dead celebrities

the long version

Former New York Daily News gossip columnist Fink made his livelihood reporting on celebrities' lives. Now, he reports on their deaths. John Lennon, Ted Williams, Lucille Ball, John Ritter, Warren Zevon: these are just a few of the fifteen larger-than-life celebrities whose final days are detailed here. Working with the cooperation of the stars' families and friends, all on the record, he has unearthed exclusive and moving material. He portrays here the broad range of emotions these very sympathetic icons experienced. Fink answers our cultural obsession with celebrities literally, telling of his subjects' physical, emotional, and spiritual journeys to the end of life. He talked to Yoko Ono about the optimism of John Lennon's final week; Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi about the frenzy of John Belushi's debauched ending; David Bloom's colleagues about the acceptance, even peace, he found in the chaos of desert war.--From publisher description.