well, as you say, the obits are paid - and not cheap, either. So not surprising that (a) the folks who get written up are prosperous and thus tend to white and European (and it's the Globe, too ... I will leave you to research the Star and other sources to compare class backgrounds) and (b) the writers leave out the dodgy bits.
I did enjoy the obit a few weeks back in the Globe that said 'in lieu of flowers, we suggest a donation to your own wine collection' - in the spirit of the deceased, apparently, who appreciated such things.
In The London Telegraph glory days some obits were happily savage,as if Auberon Waugh had penned them.I remember one hated libel lawyer’s drubbing.Wonderful revenge.
I like this slant on obituaries. Would writing your own obituary and telling the truth about yourself be preferable? I discovered the second wife of my divorced husband took my name out of the obituary that had been entered by a child of mine as the mother of his children. According to a lawyer I spoke to this is common. Obviously obituaries can serve many purposes.
The 2711-word obituary of my former father-in-law glows with high academic achievements, world peace activism, happiness and, of course, devotions from his many grandchildren and step-grandchildren. As the mother of two of his seven biological grandchildren, I am not mentioned. I was the second wife of his youngest son's three wives. I am a discard in every possible way. My inability to fit into this wealthy intellectual Texan clan of idealists was far beyond my Northern Irish working class immigrant capacity. Such is life ... and death. Love this Monty Python scene.
well, as you say, the obits are paid - and not cheap, either. So not surprising that (a) the folks who get written up are prosperous and thus tend to white and European (and it's the Globe, too ... I will leave you to research the Star and other sources to compare class backgrounds) and (b) the writers leave out the dodgy bits.
I did enjoy the obit a few weeks back in the Globe that said 'in lieu of flowers, we suggest a donation to your own wine collection' - in the spirit of the deceased, apparently, who appreciated such things.
In The London Telegraph glory days some obits were happily savage,as if Auberon Waugh had penned them.I remember one hated libel lawyer’s drubbing.Wonderful revenge.
I like this slant on obituaries. Would writing your own obituary and telling the truth about yourself be preferable? I discovered the second wife of my divorced husband took my name out of the obituary that had been entered by a child of mine as the mother of his children. According to a lawyer I spoke to this is common. Obviously obituaries can serve many purposes.
The 2711-word obituary of my former father-in-law glows with high academic achievements, world peace activism, happiness and, of course, devotions from his many grandchildren and step-grandchildren. As the mother of two of his seven biological grandchildren, I am not mentioned. I was the second wife of his youngest son's three wives. I am a discard in every possible way. My inability to fit into this wealthy intellectual Texan clan of idealists was far beyond my Northern Irish working class immigrant capacity. Such is life ... and death. Love this Monty Python scene.