Ian Usher | |
|---|---|
 Usher (left) meeting Richard Branson in 2009, fulfilling one of his goals | |
| Born | 25 July 1963 Durham, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Selling life on eBay, writing |
Ian Usher (born 25 July 1963) is an English traveller, author and public speaker. He is best known for his 2008 "life for sale" listing on eBay [1] following divorce from his wife, Laura. [2]
Usher grew up in Barnard Castle, Co Durham, England and attended the Barnard Castle School.
Following school, he lived on a kibbutz in Israel and travelled through Europe. He gained a BEd teaching degree in Outdoor Education at Liverpool Polytechnic in 1985. [3] [4]
He worked with British Rail as a Youth Leadership and Teamwork Counselor before opening Scarborough Jet Skiing on England's north east coast with his partner, Bruce Jones.
In 2001 he moved to Australia where he worked in sales, marketing and management. [3]
In 2008, after the break up of his marriage, Usher listed his "life for sale" on eBay. He gained world wide notoriety. [5] [6] The final price ended up at $399,300.
His stated goal for the eBay auction was a "fresh start," so, following the sale, he travelled across the globe in pursuit of a series of 100 goals, which were achieved in 100 weeks. His two-year "bucket list" ended in New York City in the crown of the Statue of Liberty on 4 July 2010. [7] [8]
He wrote two books, 2008's A Life Sold [9] and 2013's Paradise Delayed. [10] In A Life Sold, he documented two years of travel. The movie rights were purchased by Walt Disney Pictures, which commissioned a project called Life for Sale. [11] It was scheduled to be produced by Andrew Panay. [12]
Cheddar cheese is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting. Cheddar originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset.
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition exist and are described in the section about different types. The branch of economic theory dealing with auction types and participants' behavior in auctions is called auction theory.
High Fidelity is a 2000 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears, starring John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Jack Black, Todd Louiso, and Lisa Bonet. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the protagonist's name changed. Hornby expressed surprise at how faithful the adaptation was, saying "at times, it appears to be a film in which John Cusack reads my book."
Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. He is widely recognized as an influential figure in contemporary R&B and pop music. Raymond first released his self-titled debut album in 1994 at the age of sixteen, and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album My Way (1997). It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and saw similar success with its follow-ups "You Make Me Wanna..." and "My Way". His third album, 8701 (2001), saw continued success with the number-one singles "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2002 and 2003.
Sir David Rowat Barclay and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay, commonly referred to as the "Barclay Brothers" or "Barclay Twins", were British billionaires. They were identical twin brothers and, until the death of David in 2021, had joint business interests primarily in media, retail and property.
David Usher is a British-born Canadian musician, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and activist best known as the front man for the band Moist. He has also released a number of solo albums. He is the founder of Reimagine AI, an artificial intelligence creative studio.
Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is populated by enemies and hazards that variously cause the player to lose lives or points.
Discovery Island is an 11.5-acre (4.7 ha) island in Bay Lake, Florida. It is located on the property of Walt Disney World in the city of Bay Lake. Between 1974 and 1999, it was an attraction open to guests, who could observe its many species of animals. Disney originally named it Treasure Island, and later renamed it Discovery Island. It currently sits abandoned, but can be seen by any watercraft in Bay Lake. Discovery Island is now the name of one of the lands in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Entenmann's is an American company that manufactures baked goods and delivers them throughout the United States to supermarkets and other retailers for sale to the public. They are often known to have display cases at the end of store aisles. The company offers dessert cakes, donuts, cookies, cup cakes, loaf cakes, pies, cereal bars, muffins, Danish pastries, crumb cakes, and buns among other baked goods. In the past several years, they have added designer coffee flavors along with scented candles to their product line in an effort to broaden its appeal.
The Taylor–Burton Diamond, a diamond weighing 68 carats (13.6 g), became famous in 1969 when it was purchased by actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Burton had previously been the underbidder when jeweller Cartier bought the diamond at auction for $1,050,000, setting a record price for a publicly sold jewel. Thousands of people in New York and Chicago queued to see the diamond after its 1969 sale. It was subsequently worn by Taylor at Princess Grace of Monaco's 40th birthday, and at the 42nd Academy Awards.
Janet Munro was a British actress. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the film Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) and received a BAFTA Film Award nomination for her performance in the film Life for Ruth (1962).
Bega Dairy & Drinks is a subsidiary of Australian diversified food company the Bega Group, having been purchased from the Japanese company Kirin in November 2020. While owned by Kirin, it was known as Lion Dairy & Drinks.
The Bucket List is a 2007 American buddy comedy-drama film directed and produced by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, and starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The main plot follows two terminally ill men on their road trip with a wish list of things to do before they "kick the bucket".
Here I Stand is the fifth studio album by the American singer Usher, released on May 13, 2008, by LaFace Records. Inspired by love for his then-wife—Tameka Foster—and son, Usher recorded many ballads for the album. Prior to the album's recording, Usher split with his mother, Jonnetta Patton, as manager and hired Benny Medina. Usher's estranged father died months before the release of Here I Stand; this also influenced themes of the album. It was originally to be titled Measure of a Man, but Usher named it Here I Stand to mark "a new chapter in life".
Raymond v. Raymond is the sixth studio album by American singer Usher, released on March 26, 2010, by LaFace Records. Production for the album took place in 2009 and was handled by several producers, including Jermaine Dupri, The Runners, Ester Dean, Polow da Don, RedOne, Jim Jonsin, Danja, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Bangladesh, Zaytoven, and Tricky Stewart.
"Papers" is a song by American urban recording artist Usher. The song was a buzz single for his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond. It was written by Usher, Alonzo "Gorilla Zoe" Mathis, Sean Garrett and Zaytoven, and was produced by the latter two. Although it was never identified as a track from the album, or as the lead single, it was released to U.S. urban and rhythmic radio stations on October 12, 2009, and subsequently available for digital download on October 16, 2009.
"Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" is a song by American R&B singer Usher. The song is the first single in the United States from Usher's sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond, following the buzz single "Papers". The song was written by longtime Usher collaborator Rico Love, Usher, Plies and The Runners and it was also produced by the Love and The Runners. The remix version of the song, featuring Plies, was released to radio stations on December 8, 2009, and subsequently available for digital download on December 15, 2009. A second remix was released, featuring Jadakiss, on February 5, 2010 with a different beat that samples the 1997 hit by Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" (which in turn samples Steely Dan's "Black Cow").
The Buried Life is a reality documentary series on MTV. The series features Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn, Ben Nemtin, and Dave Lingwood attempting to complete a list of "100 things to do before you die." The pilot episode aired on January 18, 2010, and the show was renewed for a second season in 2010. On October 25, 2011, The Buried Life announced they wouldn't be doing any more episodes of the show. Shortly after their show's cancellation, the creators said they were working on a "new and improved" show for the network based on the premise of the original series. No new details on a new series have since been released.
Many unusual items have been listed for sale on the auction website eBay. Some sold while other auctions were stopped by eBay because the listing breached their policies.
Rosenberg recently did a rewrite for Disney's Life For Sale, which Andrew Panay is producing.