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WHAT OBIT
Winners of 2008 Society of Professional Obituary Writers Awards and the 2009 SPOW Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Read all about it at:
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Like the late Rodney Dangerfield, we obit writers often feel that we get no respect. Yet I love the death beat. I don't have to go out looking for a story. People are dying every day to get on the obit page. I don't have to dodge bullets while covering a hostage situation or raindrops while hoping to get an interview with a crime-scene witness. I can stay in the safety and comfort of my cozy cubicle and conduct interviews by phone. Oh, sure. Staying put may seem like a downer. I don't go to exotic locales to write travel stories, to movie locations to interview my filmdom favorites (like George Lucas, Samuel L. Jackson or Steve Buscemi) or to war-torn areas to see what the combatants and Geraldo Rivera are up to. But I do get to cross beat lines into entertainment, sports, business and politics. I get to write about freshly dead subjects from all walks of life: from king makers to pawnbrokers, from bankers to bank robbers. Summing up a life is an awesome responsibility. Historians and genealogists use obits to shape their versions of history, often without regard to the accuracy of those obits. Congressmen read the obits of their prominent constituents and campaign workers into the Congressional Record. Veterans groups, fraternal organizations and religious denominations post newspaper obits on their Internet Web sites. A well-written and well-researched obit can enlighten readers about contemporary history and a variety of ethnic, religious and socio-economic cultures. It also can provide information about agencies, events and individuals that can help the reader or benefit from the reader's support. If we're lucky, an obituary will inspire the living to be good to their neighbors, strive for success and keep hope alive. The best perk of obit writing also happens to be a reason for regret. I get to learn about some extraordinary people, whom I wish I had met. |
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Many journalists view obituary writing as a dead-end job, even though surveys show obits to be among the most widely read and enduring stories in the newspaper.
