You know, they'll print anything in an obituary anymore as long as you pay for it.
As I recall this trend at the local fishwarp started in 2003-ish, not long after my Dad died in any case (his was written by the obituary editorial staff from an interview we had with the funeral directors, which was the only way they'd do it in those days).
It has pretty much turned the obituary page into a joke, IMHO. People in the throes of mourning think they can write coherently, and the Star apparently puts interns in charge of editing obituaries. The result is a nearly-unreadable obituary page full of phrases like "heroic battle against cancer", which I submit is an oxymoron -- there is nothing heroic about fighting cancer, one does it because one is deathly afraid of, well, dying.
Frankly, I intend to write my own obituary so nobody else can muck it up.
Oh, and as far as I am concerned, this right here is the best obituary ever.
Yeah, I didn't say it wasn't a riot. I was just bemoaning the loss of respect for the recently dead. But that's just one of the many instances where this generation has thrown urbanity to the winds.
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I think I was beaten up by her once in a bar in New Mexico.
ReplyDeleteYou know, they'll print anything in an obituary anymore as long as you pay for it.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall this trend at the local fishwarp started in 2003-ish, not long after my Dad died in any case (his was written by the obituary editorial staff from an interview we had with the funeral directors, which was the only way they'd do it in those days).
It has pretty much turned the obituary page into a joke, IMHO. People in the throes of mourning think they can write coherently, and the Star apparently puts interns in charge of editing obituaries. The result is a nearly-unreadable obituary page full of phrases like "heroic battle against cancer", which I submit is an oxymoron -- there is nothing heroic about fighting cancer, one does it because one is deathly afraid of, well, dying.
Frankly, I intend to write my own obituary so nobody else can muck it up.
Oh, and as far as I am concerned, this right here is the best obituary ever.
If that obit was anything near to the truth, I think I'd like her.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't say it wasn't a riot. I was just bemoaning the loss of respect for the recently dead. But that's just one of the many instances where this generation has thrown urbanity to the winds.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Wish I could have known that lady.
ReplyDeleteWhy do the "recently dead" deserve anymore respect than they... or anyone else ... had when they were "recently" alive?
ReplyDelete