When it comes to the task of dying, ordinary people get the better deal

Not so long ago, cancer sufferers pretended they didn’t have the disease. Neither they nor their families acknowledged the Big C. Now, it is an occasion for exploration in books, newspaper columns, blogs or – in the case of Farrah Fawcett – a TV documentary

I never saw an episode of Charlies’ Angels and so far this hasn’t had much impact on my life or happiness. The first place I encountered Farrah Fawcett Majors was in an American magazine called Good Housekeeping that a friend of my mother used to send her every month. In one edition, my eye was caught by a full page ad of a smiling blonde with a tap around her neck. No kidding – she was wearing a pendant made in the shape of a bath tap. Or maybe a sink tap. But a turn-on-the-water tape, one way or the other.

“The Farrah Faucet in 14 carat gold,” was the slogan.