Exaggeration is in the course of things

摘要

When the new (shall we say 'mature') Aussie editor of Inwood, Jim Bowden started receiving 'Get Well' cards and email inquiries as to his health, he thought he had better check his pulse. UNBEKNOWN TO him, an editorial in Australasian Timberman - thepublication he edited for many years before leaving to join Inwood - reported he was "immediately stepping down because of ill health". It reminded Bowden of the obituary of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain) - published by a number of American newspapers - which prompted Twain (who was in London at the time) to despatch the now-famous cable: "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."