Last Orders

Death is life’s final certainty, yet few of us are truly prepared for it – or even want to talk about it. We avoid the topic, hoping it will somehow sort itself out. However, when the inevitable comes, the burden often falls on those we love most.

In Last Orders, celebrant Kathie Shearer – who has helped hundreds of families navigate their farewells – offers personal anecdotes, practical guidance and gentle wisdom to help you take charge of your final chapter. Drawing from her own experience of loss – including the sudden deaths of her father and her husband, renowned golfer Bob Shearer – she understands the emotional and logistical turmoil that can follow an unplanned departure.

This is not a grim manual; it’s a compassionate, clear-eyed guide to getting your affairs in order – delivered with warmth, wit and just the right amount of irreverence. Kathie’s goal is simple: to make this an amusing and thought-provoking read that inspires action.

Facing the end doesn’t have to be bleak – it can be one of

the most loving and fulfilling things you do for those you

leave behind.

Author Biography

Kathie Shearer has seen it all.As a professional celebrant, she has managed official farewells for hundreds of people.Many of them are ill-prepared for the event because they avoided the issue for too long.As a wife she witnessed the sudden death of her husband, the golfing professional Bob Shearer in 2022.Early in her life she lost her father, and never had time or the opportunity to grieve for him, and later on her dear mother, whose death inspired her to write down the words for this book.Kathie Shearer wants people to breathe deep, think clearly and confront the reality that their time will end.