John Fairfax died in his home in Nevada on February 8th, at 74-years-old. Today, the New York Times ran his obituary and it is pretty great, as far as obituaries go.

Here are the seven best lines condensed into one easy-to-read, no subscription necessary, listicle.

  • At 9, he settled a dispute with a pistol. At 13, he lit out for the Amazon jungle.
  • At 20, despondent over a failed love affair, resolved to kill himself by letting a jaguar attack him.
  • To please his mother, who did not take kindly to his being a pirate, he briefly managed a mink farm, one of the few truly dull entries on his otherwise crackling résumé, which lately included a career as a professional gambler.
  • Aboard were provisions (Spam, oatmeal, brandy); water; and a temperamental radio.
  • Mr. Fairfax was bitten on the arm by a shark, and he and Ms. Cook became trapped in a cyclone, lashing themselves to the boat until it subsided. Unreachable by radio for a time, they were presumed lost.
  • "I'm after a battle with nature, primitive and raw."
  • In recent years, Mr. Fairfax made his living playing baccarat, the card game also favored by James Bond.

[Via NYT, image via AP]