Because of my confessed interest in obituaries I was referred to a link that took me to King's Journalism Review, a Canadian college's publication. The story, by Heather Cox, was titled The Brilliant Minds of Obit Grinds. Not exactly sure about the whole title, but the story was well done.
Ms. Cox writes a contemporary account of the lively art of writing about someone's life in the past tense, invoking all the names of the profession. She gives room to Jim Sheeler and Marilyn Johnson, people who she accords Oscars to as the George Clooney and Julia Roberts of their profession.
Her Canadian connections also gave her ample access to Catherine Dunphy, a Toronto Star obituary writer who wrote Lives Lived, as a column in the paper. Heather closes with a well-honed obituary technique of using a zinger and a quote, when she tells us Catherine Dunphy explains why she loves her job so much: "“The dead can’t sue,” she says. “This is where you want to be.”
And then we have Cadillac Man, the pen name of Thomas Wagner, who has written about his life of living on the streets of New York. And not for an incidental part of time. Thirteen years, from 1994 to 2007. His book just came out.
Thursday's New York Times allows a terrific piece in their Home section, ironically of course on the homeless guy who now has a home. The piece is by Cadillac Man, complete with a few photos, plenty of surprises, no surprises, and an admission that he's slept nearly everywhere but the Waldorf-Astoria. He goes on to point out that even a 5 star hotel has nothing on a mausoleum. "The other guests never complain."
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com/
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