FAME

“How close to immortality can we get?”

ho hasn’t, at some time in their lives, contemplated immortality? Fiction is littered with such characters – Count Dracula, Dr Who, The Highlander, to name but a few – so I guess this question has fascinated many authors too. According to the peer reviewed ‘Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy’, “Immortality is the indefinite continuation of a person’s existence, even after death.” This definition is wide enough to embrace ‘afterlife’ too – the existence of the consciousness or spirit of the departed. Personally, if I could achieve immortality I would prefer not to roam the landscape as a ghost putting the willies up people or uttering a creepy commentary during a séance like the reported case of Erik Medhus. According to Richard Martini, author of ‘Architecture of the Afterlife’, after committing suicide Erik called his mum, a physician in Houston, on her mobile and said, “Hi mom, I’m okay.” But returning with haste to the title, taken from the classic 1980s hit by Irene Cara, can we live forever or, at the very least, significantly extend our