Catherine Cookson her sickbed. It was conducted by Mike Neville. Catherine Cookson died at the age of 91, sixteen days before her 92nd birthday, at her home in Newcastle. Her novels, many written from her sickbed, continued to be published posthumously until 2002. Tom died on 28 June 1998, just 17 days later. He had been hospitalised for a week and the cause of his death was not announced. He was 86 years old. In March 2008, the Dame Catherine Cookson Memorial Garden was unveiled in the grounds of South Tyneside District Hospital in South Shields, based on the theme of a
Death rates in the 20th century Death rates in the 20th century Death Rates in the 20th century is the ratio of deaths compared to the population around the world throughout the 20th century. When giving these ratios, they are most commonly expressed by number of deaths per 1,000 people per year. Many factors contribute to death rates such as cause of death, increasing the death rate, an aging population, which could increase and decrease the death rates by birth rates, and improvements in public health, decreasing the death rate. According to the CIA World Factbook, , the global crude death rate is 7.99 deaths/1,000 population.