The art of writing obituaries
A friend recently gave me a copy of Marilyn Johnson’s The Dead Beat, a book about obituarists and the craft of writing about the dead. And I have to say, it’s tough going. I’m having trouble finishing this one.
To start, the tone comes across as flippant. Particularly when she highlights the English style of obituary writing. She seems to revel in the stringing criticisms of once-famous (or infamous) persons. I suppose when all one does is write about dead people, you stop considering the impact your writings may have on friends and relations of the deceased.
It also feels a bit inside baseball-ish. Deconstructing the variety of introductions and endings of obituaries is not difficult to follow, but if you’re not a professional writer for a daily newspaper, the allusions can leave you scratching your head. And then there is the critical eye placed on the obituary coverage of New York papers following the terrorist attacks on September 11th. The explicit criticism was that the Times and other papers basically gave the victims a pass, by not writing enough about people’s moral failings in life and overemphasizing their victim status. Gimme a break. At what point do you simply acknowledge human suffering on a grand scale and honor innocent victims?
It’s not a total waste though. I did learn of the International Association of Obituarists and their annual conventions. I plan on making it to the next convention. From there, maybe I’ll learn the difference between a great obituary and a regular old death notice.
