Like writing children's books, I suspect that writing obits about one's pets is one of those things a lot of people assume they can do well -- until it's time to actually do it. I am never sure I want to read about someone's pet who has died. I figure it's probably going to contain elements of endearing, poignant, funny and of course, the dreaded arc of life we are "lucky" enough to watch by outliving dogs, especially, to the extent that we usually do.
I know the writer is going to go from puppyhood to dysplasia. Worst case scenario, I'll probably read about the expectant eyes on the trip to the vet's office at the end. "Are we going to the park?" None of that sort of thing appears in this obit of a golden retriever, written by Daniel Ruth of the Tampa Bay Times, who also just won a Pulitzer for his political columns.
Obituary Forum
This obituary-related forum serves as the blog for The Society of Professional Obituary Writers. Please join in the discussion with and ask questions of folks who write about the dead for a living, and others, who study, enjoy, read and/or write obituaries.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Something We Never Want To Experience
We regret that due to technical difficulties, the report on Nelson Mandela's death was unintentionally published. @dw_english
— DW (English) (@dw_english) June 14, 2013
(h/t Romenesko)
Thursday, June 13, 2013
What is the future of obits?
Here are a few of my ideas:
What are your thoughts?
(Note: Additional resources available at http://bit.ly/futureofobits)
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Missed The SPOW Conference In Toronto?
No worries!
Tamara Baluja at J-Source: The Canadian Journalism Project live-blogged Saturday's workshops. Click here to read a running commentary of the day's events.
Monday, June 10, 2013
New Facebook Group for Grimsters!
Jade Walker was asked - or volunteered - to set up a Facebook Group for obit writers. You must check it out.
On the new FB group page for grimsters, we have posted the names of the winners of the SPOW Awards which were presented during the SPOW Conference in Toronto this past weekend.
We'll post them on the Obituary Forum blog too, but we want to lure you to the FB group first.
More to come - both on this blog and our FB group page - on awards, the fabulous Toronto conference, future conferences, the future of SPOW and more!
On the new FB group page for grimsters, we have posted the names of the winners of the SPOW Awards which were presented during the SPOW Conference in Toronto this past weekend.
We'll post them on the Obituary Forum blog too, but we want to lure you to the FB group first.
More to come - both on this blog and our FB group page - on awards, the fabulous Toronto conference, future conferences, the future of SPOW and more!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Riddle of the Labyrinth: a kind of extended obit
From Kathryn Schulz' review of New York Times senior obituary writer Margalit Fox's The Riddle of the Labyrinth -- The Quest to Crack and Ancient Code (Ecco Press 2013) in New York Magazine:
That beat does not normally make celebrities of its practitioners, so it says a lot about Fox’s writing ability that her obits have acquired something of a cult following. The form demands three things: a nose for interesting facts, the ability to construct a taut narrative arc, and a Dickens-level gift for concisely conveying personality.
Here is Fox's take on her craft and how she became interested in the work of Brooklyn College classics professor Alice Kober, who died in 1950. Her cursory, resume-like obit at the time barely mentions Linear B, an endless series of pictograms unearthed in ancient Greece no one could decipher. Yet Kober's largely unrecognized work over decades made cracking the code possible. Fox's newly released Riddle of the Labyrinth seems like the best kind of book to come out of newsrooms, in which writers decide to take a subject that's not due at 6 p.m. today and follow it wherever it leads.
That beat does not normally make celebrities of its practitioners, so it says a lot about Fox’s writing ability that her obits have acquired something of a cult following. The form demands three things: a nose for interesting facts, the ability to construct a taut narrative arc, and a Dickens-level gift for concisely conveying personality.
Here is Fox's take on her craft and how she became interested in the work of Brooklyn College classics professor Alice Kober, who died in 1950. Her cursory, resume-like obit at the time barely mentions Linear B, an endless series of pictograms unearthed in ancient Greece no one could decipher. Yet Kober's largely unrecognized work over decades made cracking the code possible. Fox's newly released Riddle of the Labyrinth seems like the best kind of book to come out of newsrooms, in which writers decide to take a subject that's not due at 6 p.m. today and follow it wherever it leads.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
EBITS - the latest online obituary venture - fires a warning shot....
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