MICHAEL LARGO

As a son of New York Police Department homicide and narcotics detective, Michael Largo had an unusual insider look at how people died from an early age. A noted expert on the American way of dying, he is the author of The Portable Obituary: How The Famous, Rich and Powerful Really Died (HarperCollins) and the previously acclaimed book Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die —winner of the 2006 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction. He has been featured in Playboy, Maxim, and Entertainment Weekly.

Largo engages audiences withwit, a wry humor, and an encyclopedic knowledge on one of life’s most fascinating subjects, such as:

• How small choices you make everyday affect your productivity at work, and ultimately the years you have to pursue your career. By citing incidents of bizarre deaths in the workplace, in addition to hidden risks in the office, everything from Sick Building Syndrome, Latex Sensitivity, to Liquid-Eraser Disorder it’s clear that making small changes improve productivity and prevent premature death.
• The history of labor practices in the construction industry from Roman times through the Industrial Revolution. Current industry safety laws, why they were established, and how to get employees to comply, citing bizarre examples of accidents and fatalities made poignant by using unforgettable and humorous anecdotes.
• The history of labor practices and extermination techniques in the pest control industry from Roman times through the Industrial Revolution. Current industry safety laws, why they were established, and how to get employees to comply, citing bizarre examples of accidents and fatalities made poignant by using unforgettable and humorous anecdotes.
• The history of death certificates, burial customs and recording of death from ancient times through the present. How to make searching for the genealogical records of your ancestors easier.
• How certain nursery rhymes were the first public safety announcements to make kids safer. Class participation on what rhyme was trying to teach. How bad habits are dangerous, citing gross examples of things kids did that turned out deadly, from nibbling on hair (giant hairball), using straws to listen through doors, jump ropes, monkey bars, and food fights, helping to make children more observant of their surroundings, and ultimately safer.
• A brief history of the most bizarre burial practices from around the world from ancient times to the present. A discussion of the 3,000 ways people currently die and why it increased from only 100 known causes listed in the 1700s.

Largo is a member of The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, and Horror Writers of America. He resides in Georgia.

Praise for Final Exits

“Every mortal should read this book, before they find themselves in its pages.”
—Daniel Handler

“Who knew death could be so fun?”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Grade: A)

“Reading just one more item in Final Exits, then another, then still another, is as compulsive as eating popcorn... Frequently stunning.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“Final Exits is gross and engrossing. Volcano deaths, horse-and-buggy fatalities, and terminal narcolepsy are surprisingly common… A well-researched historical perspective on death.”
—Wendy Northcutt, bestselling author of The Darwin Awards

“Amazingly entertaining.”
—Maxim

“Freaky but fascinating.”

—Miami Monthly