David Stewart Freeman (February 21, 1961 – August 17, 2008) was an American advertising executive. Freeman was best known for co-authoring the 1999 book ''100 Things to Do Before You Die'' with his friend Neil Teplica. It was based on the Web site whatsgoingon.com, which the pair ran together from 1996 to 2001. The book's recommendations ranged from attending the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and running with the bulls in

Pamplona, Spain Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

, to the more obscure, like taking a voodoo pilgrimage in Haiti and "

land diving Land diving (known in the local Sa language as and in Bislama as ) is a ritual performed by the men of the southern part of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. Men jump off wooden towers around high, with two tree vines wrapped around the ankles. Lan ...

" in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

, which Freeman once called "the original

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

". The success of ''100 Things'' spawned numerous similar compendia of essential places and things such as ''

1,000 Places to See Before You Die ''1,000 Places to See Before You Die'' is a 2003 travel book by Patricia Schultz, published by Workman. A revised edition was published in November 2011. The new edition is in color. An iPad app debuted in December 2011. Among the "1,000 places ...

'', leaving a legacy of "''... Before You Die''" and "''Before You Turn 40''" books still in the bestseller charts today.The rise of 'before you die-ism'
BBC

Biography

Freeman was born in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...

. He graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

. He worked in advertising for his whole professional career, including jobs at agencies

Grey Advertising Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia ...

and

TBWA\Chiat\Day TBWA\Chiat\Day ( ) is the American division of the advertising agency TBWA Worldwide. Created in the 1995 merger of TBWA and Chiat/Day, the agency operates offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Nashville, and Mexico City. Prior to the merger, ...

. On September 11, 2001, Freeman watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center from his apartment just blocks away. He moved back to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

to be closer to his family. Freeman died in his

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed b ...

, home on August 17, 2008, after falling and hitting his head. He was 47. At the time of his death, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' noted that Freeman had seen "about half the sites" in his book.LA Times Obituary: Dave Freeman, 47
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Dave 1961 births 2008 deaths Jewish American writers Writers from Whittier, California USC Sol Price School of Public Policy alumni Accidental deaths in California Accidental deaths from falls Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews