Stevie Smith said:
I love death, I think it’s the most exciting thing. As one gets older one gets into this – well it’s like a race, before you get to the waterfall, when you feel the water slowly getting quicker and quicker, and you can’t get out, and all you want to do is get to the waterfall and over the edge. How exciting it is! Why do people grumble about old age so much?
I’ve never heard anyone express quite that attitude before, and I can think of a few reasons why people might grumble. But there’s no doubt she meant what she said. Perhaps her attitude to death mirrored her attitude to life?
In any case, Stevie Smith died of a brain tumour on this date, 7 March, 36 years ago, aged 68.
