I was eating lunch at a restaurant connected to Tempe’s terrific indie bookstore, Changing Hands, when a young man approached and handed me a card. His dad was signing books. When I finished my lunch, did I want to come over? Thus I met Julian J. Blum, the author of Dying to Know: the Comprehensive Guide to Kicking the Bucket, and many months later, I feel I’ve known him all my life.

The author told me the book began as a project to put his affairs in order, something we all know we should do. Why do we put that off? I’m not sure. Maybe we’re all procrastinators. Maybe we don’t like to think this will ever be necessary. Maybe we put it off because it’s just plain BORING.

Julian J. Blum felt just the same way, but he was a realist. Knowing that he was nearing the end of his expected lifespan, the author began putting his important papers in a binder. He wanted to save his wife, Fleeta Compton Blum, the hassle of figuring out where to find information. After all, he had been the guy who paid the bills. He didn’t want to burden her.

A Light-Hearted Look At “Kicking the Bucket”

As he says in the book’s intro, “Hundreds of hours and pages later, I felt she would have most, if not all, of the information she would need, but it was somber to read and somewhat morbid to put together.”

He started tucking clip art into the folder, illustrations to encourage a smile. His wife liked the binder so much, she showed it to friends. They all wanted one. Thus was born the idea for a truly useful and necessary book.

The information comes in two forms. One is the friendly book that includes all the prompts and pages you’ll need to get started with this. (ISBN 978-1-61233-280-2, published by Universal Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, 2014) Order at your favorite bookstore.

The other way to use the book is to fill out the info in a digital copy.
http://www.universal-publishers.com/dyingtoknow/ebookcompanion.php

That will let you fill out a dynamic PDF file, and then you can print your own copy.
The book includes pages for Facebook memorials, funeral instructions, buying a wholesale casket, living wills and powers of attorney, veterans benefits, insurance policies, and way more than you ever might imagine (including what to do about pets). This is only sampling of this truly comprehensive and wonderfully useful book.

Learn more here, and let Julian Blum save your family some angst.
http://www.dyingtoknow.info