A Beginner’s Guide to Dying

Simon Boas

In the summer of 2023, at the age of 46, Simon Boas was diagnosed with advanced and incurable throat cancer. Knowing that he didn’t have long to live – “It isn’t quite ‘Don’t buy any green bananas’. But it’s close to ‘Don’t start any long books‘.” – Simon was determined to bring the optimism and positivity by which he lived his life, to his dying and his death.

This book ‘A beginner’s Guide to Dying‘ grew out of articles he wrote for his local paper, The Jersey Evening Post about dealing with his terminal cancer. The articles went viral and Simon decided to continue to write and expand on them, and the result is this thought provoking and inspiring book.

What whiteballoon thinks:

We first came across Simon Boas when, weeks before his death, he spoke to Emma Barnett on Radio 4’s Today programme about his life, his attitude towards his diagnosis, and his impending death. It is a remarkable interview with a remarkable man. His calm acceptance of dying and the sense of peace that flowed from his words and thoughts were incredibly moving and also uplifting. This book captures that sense of calm and grateful acceptance, for his life and for having the chance to prepare for his death.

As Simon himself emphasises, he is no expert on dying, so it is only a ‘guide’ in the sense that it is one person’s insights and thoughts based on what he has learnt along the way. What comes across most is how determined Simon was to squeeze the most out of life, to live it fully and with joy. As he says ‘My overwhelming feeling is of gratitude, of how insanely luck it was to have lived in the first place.’.

The book is full of wisdom, wit and ideas that may just help someone who is in a similar situation, or who is supporting someone else who is. It is a book about how precious life is and the importance of ‘giving death a place‘ in order to make even more of life.

About the author:

Simon Boas was born in 1977 and spent his childhood in London and Winchester. In 1993, at the age of 16, he travelled to Bosnia with a convoy to deliver aid. This trip was the spark that led to a career working for development charities and the UN, which saw him spend time in Africa, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, Nepal, India and the Palestinian Territories, before returning to Jersey in the UK with his beloved wife Aurelie to run the island’s overseas aid agency.

Simon died on 15th July 2024.