Fortean Times – September 2019

50 FT383

thechiefbookmakerintheskyopensthe

seventhand fi nalseal,mayyournamealso

beintheBookofLife.”

Itwasn’ttheBookofLifethatIsleof

WightmanGeoffSartincontactedmein

1996tobeton.JoblessGeoff,43,wascaring

forhispoorlywife,Barbara,aftershehad

undergonethreeheartoperations.While

hewashypnotisingheroneday,hetoldme,

shehad reve aledthedateonwhichshe

woulddie:25March2007.Geoffwantedto

betthatherpredictionwouldcometrueby

staking£100atoddsof10,000/1,potentially

worth£1million.Heexplainedthat“death

comestousall,andifthere’sachancefor

theremainingpartnertobecomfortablyoff,

thenonemusttr y.”Itwasoka y,headded,

Barbaradidn’tmind.“I’mfullyinagreement

withGeoff’s bet,”shesaid.“Themoneywill

givemeagoodsend-off.Iwantmycoffin

pulledthroughthestreetsbyablackhorse

andcarriage.”

Despitehisunconvincing“I’dbedelighted

ifthebetwasaloser”,IdisappointedGeoff

byexplainingthatIwasn’tcomfortablewith

thethoughtofthisunprecedentedrequest

anddeclinedthebet.Idid,though,mention

ittotheSun’sChiefReporter,Jo hnKa y,who

wroteastoryaboutitinthepaper.

SomeyearslaterIlookedatmyoffice

calendarandwonderedwhythedateof25

March2007rangadimanddistantbell.

GeoffSartin’snamejumpedintomymind

forthe fi rsttimeinover10 years. Thatwasit:

today wasthedayGeoffSartinhadwanted

tobet wouldbehiswife’slast.

IrangJohnKayattheSun,suggestinga

follow-upstory.Helo vedtheideaandrushed

offto checkoutGeoff’scontactdetails.Some

hourslaterhewasbackonthephone:“This

isbizarre.There’snotraceofthefamilyat

theiroldaddress,noneatallanywhereon

theIsleofWightand wecanfi ndnoemailor

phonedetails,andnoreferencetoGeoffor

Barbarawhereverwesearch...”

Onanotheroccasion,though,Ididallow

oneparticularpersontoplaceabeton

beatingthedeathsentencehisdoctorshad

servedonhim.JonMatthewswasdiagnosed

withterminalmesotheliomainearly2007

andtoldhewasunlikelystilltobealiveby

theendofthatyear.Inhislatefi ftiesanda

regularcustomerataWilliamHillshopnear

MiltonKeynes,Joncontactedmetoaskif

Iwouldacceptbetsthathewoulddefythe

terminalprognosis.

Iwasimpressedbyalwaysbe-hattedJon’s

insistencethatpositivethoughtcouldextend

hislife,andacceptedhis£100betthathe

wouldstillbealiveon1 June2008atoddsof

50/1;anther£100thathewouldstillbealive

on1 June2009atthesameodds,andathird

of£100,thistimeat100/1,thathewould

makeitto1June2010.

TheindefatigableJonsteamedpastthe

fi rsttwobets,winningatotalof£10,000and

becomingsomethingofalocalpersonality

intheprocess.InearlyMay2010,within

acoupleofweeksofbeatingtheoddsfor

athirdtime,Jonfi nallysuccumbedtohis

terminaldisease.Iwasgenuinelytearful

whenIheard.Jonhadbeentreatedat

HarefieldHospital,soIarrangedthatthe

£10,000hecamesoclosetocollectingshould

bedonatedtothatestablishmenttobuy

avitalpieceofequipmenttheyrequired,

towhichaplaquebearingJon’snamewas

affixedinhismemory.

FUTURE FORTUNES

IfLondonerJohnWRichardson,whonow

livesinLas Vegas,fathersa childduringthe

yearhehasspecified,hewillwin£500,000

fromthebethestruckwithme,of£50at

oddsof10,000/1.

Whysuchgenerousoddsforaman

tobecomeadad?Becausehewillhave

somethingelsetocelebrateinthatyear,

2040:his100thbirthday!

CaesarMilego-Pertierracouldcollecteven

morethanRichardson,havingbet£1,000

at1,000/1(whichwillpayout£1million)in

early1998thathewillmakeittohiscentury

in2031.“Ihaveasecret formulawhichIwill

publishwhenI’m100,”theSpanish-born

fatheroftwotoldmewhenhestruckthe

wager.“Idrinkaglassofporteverynowand

thenandamalwaysoptimisticaboutthe

future.”

To whichI responded:“Youcanbesurewe

willnotcometoburyCaesar.”

Iacceptedanevenlonger-lastingbet,

which won’tbe wonorlostuntil2116,when

DavidChristieofGlasgowmightfi nally

collect£10,000forthe£2 wagerheplaced

withmethat,duringthatyear,theEarth

willbeinvolvedinadirectcollisionwiththe

cometknownas‘Swift-Tuttle’.

Asformyfavouriteweird wagerover

theyears?Ithinkthefl urryof500/1betsI

tookthatitwouldbeprovedthata famous

brotherandsisterwereactuallyoneandthe

sameperson:notMarieandDonnyOsmond,

butLa ToyaandMichaelJackson.

Ibetitcrossedyourmindonceortwice

backintheday...

✒GRAHAM SHARPEworked forWilliam

Hill for nearly 50 years. His latest book,

Vinyl Countdown: A SidewaysLook at

Vinyl Records,Record Shops andRecord

Collectors, is published by Oldcastle Books

in October.

COURTESY GRAHAM SHARPE

ABOVE:The author and Chris Bonington, about to embark onYeti Hunt ‘88.