I, too, read obituaries. Since I am the resident historian for The Nursing History Society at The University of Michigan, I try to keep track of graduates of our nursing programs and I then communicate those to various mailing lists. But more importantly, what I learn about people makes me wonder why did it take someone to die before I learned more fully about them. As I am now in my 8th decade of life, more and more I am reading obituaries of people I did know and I often wish we had celebrated their lives more fully. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Linda
As well, there is a certain code used in many traditional newspaper obituaries to convey controversial information about the deceased without actually saying so, for example:
"Life of the party" = drinking problem,
"Unable to suffer fools gladly" = bully,
"Old school" = a bigot, albeit one who likes opera and looks good in a tuxedo",
"Confirmed bachelor" = gay, not out of the closet, but everyone knows,
"Ladies' man" = unable to name every woman he's ever slept with,
"Man's man" = drinks like a journalist, swears like a cop, smokes like a 1970s cab driver, drives like a country doctor, farts like a Labrador.
Yes, Doug. I also read the obituaries particularly in the NYT and similar Australian and British papers.
The best of these obituaries are brief biographies, distilling the achievements struggles, and contradictions of a person's life in the limited space of a newspaper article.
Often, the obits of many significant people start being written when they first hit the notice of the public, with continuous additions revisions being made through their lives. Thus, a full obituary is usually found in the same edition of the newspaper as the news article about the person's death.
Another thing about the obituaries is that they are often among the most literate writing in any newspaper, ranking with the baseball writing in North American papers and the cricket writing in papers in Commonwealth nations.
Well, thanks for engaging, Bob! The only thing I can think to add is the book The Dead Beat, written (I think) by a NYTimes obit writer. A wonderful reflection on the genre!
Once upon earlier times in my life I was honored to write obituaries from often very basic information. I tried to elevate terms like “housewife” because she was surely much more. “Mechanic” might be the person who kept Ford cars running at the dealership. Salesman …of what? I would ask. The short stories of real people are heartfelt and holy.
My late wife Jeannette read obits daily as well...She was a "people person", nothing wrong with her until she got pancreatic cancer. Then her children wrote her own obituary, a beautiful act of love on their part.
I, too, read obituaries. Since I am the resident historian for The Nursing History Society at The University of Michigan, I try to keep track of graduates of our nursing programs and I then communicate those to various mailing lists. But more importantly, what I learn about people makes me wonder why did it take someone to die before I learned more fully about them. As I am now in my 8th decade of life, more and more I am reading obituaries of people I did know and I often wish we had celebrated their lives more fully. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Linda
Good for you for taking on this role.
As well, there is a certain code used in many traditional newspaper obituaries to convey controversial information about the deceased without actually saying so, for example:
"Life of the party" = drinking problem,
"Unable to suffer fools gladly" = bully,
"Old school" = a bigot, albeit one who likes opera and looks good in a tuxedo",
"Confirmed bachelor" = gay, not out of the closet, but everyone knows,
"Ladies' man" = unable to name every woman he's ever slept with,
"Man's man" = drinks like a journalist, swears like a cop, smokes like a 1970s cab driver, drives like a country doctor, farts like a Labrador.
BTW, I like the euphemisms!
Yes, Doug. I also read the obituaries particularly in the NYT and similar Australian and British papers.
The best of these obituaries are brief biographies, distilling the achievements struggles, and contradictions of a person's life in the limited space of a newspaper article.
Often, the obits of many significant people start being written when they first hit the notice of the public, with continuous additions revisions being made through their lives. Thus, a full obituary is usually found in the same edition of the newspaper as the news article about the person's death.
Another thing about the obituaries is that they are often among the most literate writing in any newspaper, ranking with the baseball writing in North American papers and the cricket writing in papers in Commonwealth nations.
Well, thanks for engaging, Bob! The only thing I can think to add is the book The Dead Beat, written (I think) by a NYTimes obit writer. A wonderful reflection on the genre!
Once upon earlier times in my life I was honored to write obituaries from often very basic information. I tried to elevate terms like “housewife” because she was surely much more. “Mechanic” might be the person who kept Ford cars running at the dealership. Salesman …of what? I would ask. The short stories of real people are heartfelt and holy.
Agreed. I love that story. A wonderful lesson to learn early in life.
My late wife Jeannette read obits daily as well...She was a "people person", nothing wrong with her until she got pancreatic cancer. Then her children wrote her own obituary, a beautiful act of love on their part.
Writing my mom's obit a year ago was a surprising act of devotion and love. I'm glad your children took on this challenge.