You’ve probably heard that Mark Twain once said, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” or something similar. The gist of the quote is accurate, but the wording is not quite right.
Mark Twain is one of the few people in history who was lucky (or unlucky) enough to comment on newspaper reports of his own death. In 1897, an English journalist from the New York Journal contacted Twain to inquire whether the rumors that he was gravely ill or already dead were indeed true. Twain wrote a response, part of which made it into the article that ran in the Journal on June 2, 1897:
“I can understand perfectly how the report of my illness got about, I have even heard on good authority that I was dead. James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
As was the case with Mr. Twain, the grapevine has produced rumors of my upcoming retirement. In order to set the record straight, I addressed this subject directly in my final articles for the Rochester Business Journal and the Central New York Business Journal to announce two new partners taking responsibility for future authorship of the monthly articles.
In that final article, I stated the following: “As a professional advisor, volunteer, philanthropist, and classic car collector, I have experienced the best 50 years of American history! As the saying goes, life is a journey, not a destination, and I am ready, anxious, and apprehensive to continue my journalistic journey in reaching a larger audience with my musings and experiences…And fret not — I will continue on the Ruth Bader Ginsburg retirement program, with the intention of moving more of my professional advisory time towards consulting projects.”
Editor’s note: For those of you who have worked with Arch in the past, you can’t imagine him not working, and neither can we! Jerry plans to continue on, well into the future, consulting with our Health Care/Tax-Exempt Practice and its many clients.
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This material has been prepared for general, informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. Should you require any such advice, please contact us directly. The information contained herein does not create, and your review or use of the information does not constitute, an accountant-client relationship.
