A BOOK written to sum up the final thoughts of an Islander whose reflections on life and death touched millions will be published within weeks.
A Beginner’s Guide to Dying, by Simon Boas, written during the final months of the life of the executive director of Jersey Overseas Aid, will be published by Swift Press on 12 September. The book follows a series of articles written by Mr Boas for the JEP after his diagnosis of terminal throat cancer last year. These pieces were subsequently reproduced by national newspapers including the Daily Telegraph and Mail on Sunday, and read out on BBC Radio 4.
When news of the publishing deal was confirmed earlier this summer, a short time before Mr Boas died at Jersey Hospice on 15 July, he anticipated that he would have “hopped the twig” before the book was released, but said he was pleased to know his words might help others.
“It brings me so much joy to think that my words might benefit other people,” he said.
“And not just those people – there really is no right or wrong way to approach the grave – but everyone who might sometimes feel that they have lost touch with what’s really important in life, cluttered as it always is with so many daily worries and commitments.”
Money raised through the sale of the book will go towards palliative-care charities, particularly those focusing on children and on developing countries.
Advance publicity for the book has included some glowing tributes, with the Daily Telegraph remarking how “Boas’s cheerful stoicism seems to have touched the nation” and the Daily Mail questioning whether anyone had ever written “a more inspirational paean to the joy of life”.
Sir Terry Waite, the human rights activist and author who spent almost five years as a hostage in Lebanon in the late 1980s, described the book as “funny, compassionate and wise”.
After spending much of his career working for development charities and the United Nations, Mr Boas moved to Jersey in 2016 with his wife, Aurelie, and French sheepdog Pippin.
In May, Mr Boas was awarded the Bailiff’s Silver Seal for his contribution to the Island.
Bailiff Sir Timothy Le Cocq said the awards reflected “service to the community and the betterment of humanity through both Simon’s work in Jersey Overseas Aid and by his writings”.
