Archive: March 2008
Handey Looks Ahead
Here at The Post readers have been known to send us advance obituaries, for themselves, not trusting family members to get the facts right when the time comes. Here's the first line of an advance obit from one Jack Handey: "We are gathered here, way far in the future, for...
By Joe Holley | March 27, 2008; 5:33 PM ET | Comments (1)
What Might Have Been
British film director Anthony Minghella, who won an Academy Award for directing "The English Patient," died yesterday at the age of 54. This is the kind of the death that takes the world by surprise -- including the Obituary desk. Minghella was in relatively good health and died of a...
By Matt Schudel | March 19, 2008; 11:31 AM ET | Comments (0)
The Season of Obits
When do people die? It sounds like a Buddhist koan or a bad vaudeville joke but for obit writers, the answer is clear; around the winter holidays and as the cold season comes to a close. It's that time of year (and has been for about a month) in Washington...
By Patricia Sullivan | March 18, 2008; 11:13 AM ET | Comments (1)
Too Good to Check
From Reuters: The mayor of a village in southwest France has threatened residents with severe punishment if they die, because there is no room left in the overcrowded cemetery to bury them. In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of the village...
By Patricia Sullivan | March 6, 2008; 2:17 PM ET | Comments (0)
How Are You?
The fragile physical condition of West Virginia's 90-year-old U.S. senator, Robert C. Byrd, reminds me that when obit writers ask "How are you?" they're usually just being polite. It's not a professional inquiry. Still, we have to keep our eyes peeled and our ears open for what we call "advancers."...
By Joe Holley | March 6, 2008; 11:08 AM ET | Comments (0)
Mostly, He Wrote About Sports
W.C. Heinz died last week at the age of 93. His name may not mean much to most people, but to journalists and to sportswriters in particular, he is practically a god. Heinz had the misfortune to write for newspapers and magazines that were always going out of business. The...
By Matt Schudel | March 5, 2008; 11:10 AM ET | Comments (4)
Burying the Compliment
Feminist health advocate Barbara Seaman died Feb. 27. The family later paid me the obit writer's highest compliment -- burying a copy of the story with her in the casket. They asked for a new copy for themselves. In a related story that appears to be exclusive to the New...
By Adam Bernstein | March 2, 2008; 2:59 PM ET | Comments (70)
