Death and Ensuing Scandal
The original Wiarton Willie lived to the advanced age of 22, and was found dead only two days before Groundhog Day in 1999. The organizers were unable to find a replacement, and instead marked Groundhog Day by revealing "Willie" in a coffin. He had been dressed in a tuxedo, had coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. A scandal ensued when it became known that the real Willie had in fact decomposed, and the body in the coffin was that of an older, stuffed groundhog. The Associated Press was obliged to issue a retraction on its wires.
Read more about this topic: Wiarton Willie, History
Famous quotes containing the words death and, death, ensuing and/or scandal:
“For man, maximum excitement is the confrontation of death and the skillful defiance of it by watching others fed to it as he survives transfixed with rapture.”
—Ernest Becker (1924–1974)
“As for death one gets used to it, even if it’s only other people’s death you get used to.”
—Enid Bagnold (1889–1981)
“The ensuing year will be the longest of my life, and the last of such hateful labours. The next we will sow our cabbages together.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“In London, love and scandal are considered the best sweeteners of tea.”
—John Osborne (1929–1994)