Marissa Sanchez | From Singer-Comedian to Book Author

Filipino singer and comedian Marissa Sanchez has just started a new chapter in her life and career, this time as a book author with the publishing of her very own pandemic-inspired “My Farewell Slam Book”.

In a nutshell, My Farewell Slam Book looks a lot like a pretty activity workbook that you think you might find at the juvenile section of your favorite neighborhood bookstore. However this slam book doesn’t just ask you about your favorite color, or your ambitions in life, or your crushes. It also asks you about things that most people would rather avoid talking about – your death.

Which makes this book a challenging venture for the author and a paradigm shift for would-be owners.

To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.
J.K. Rowling

According to Marissa Sanchez, while the motivation for creating the book is rooted on sadness and the loss of many friends during the height of the pandemic here in the Philippines – the inspiration however is all about the celebration of life. The book, she added, is so much more than just a slam book. It’s a journal, a collection of anything and everything about who you are as a living and breathing person and finally, your love letter or final wishes to family, friends and loved ones.

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

Think of it as a written recollection of your life that people would have the pleasure of reading even when you’re gone. Marissa Sanchez’s “My Farewell Slam Book” although having pages that talked about your thoughts and preparations for your passing, is not really about death – it’s all about your life.

The book has 10 chapters that I believe would take you more or less a month to accomplish. Here are the chapters:

ABOUT YOU
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
DREAMS, FEARS AND REGRETS
YOUR DEATH PLAN
INTERNMENT AND BURIAL
FINAL WISHES
SENTIMENTS
FINAL MESSAGES
END

Marissa Sanchez although a comedian by craft was keen on saying that the subject of life and death is indeed no laughing matter – hence, we’ll all see the more serious side of the singer-actress in every paragraph of this book. But that doesn’t mean that going through each pages will be like a funeral. Surprisingly, I find the chapters about “Your Death Plan” and “Internment and Burial” the most amusing.

“Life is uncertain. I think this is timely because time is fleeting.”
Marissa Sanchez

My Farewell Slam Book is available online via Shopee and Lazada for only 950 Pesos. If you want something for people to remember you by when you die, I guess owning this is a great way to start. Also, I think that when it’s properly notarized, it could also work as somewhat like an informal final will and testament? That’s probably another reason to buy one.

And in the immortal words of Chuck Palaniuk: