That is not platinum hair in that pic.

Whatever the case, that was a better-written article than 95% of the dreck known as news writing that I read on a daily basis.

She wrote an obit for a good friend of mine that died unexpectedly this past year in a motorcycle accident.

It was good. Judy would have liked it.

butter face

shuff1967: Whatever the case, that was a better-written article than 95% of the dreck known as news writing that I read on a daily basis.

She appears to be a tremendous writer - therefore, look for her to be downsized in favor of more AP copy in 3...2...

Thanks for this article.

My mouse pad has a photo of Dolly Parton....

kill me now, tackiness limits exceeded

...smells of cabbage?

OK, like, Bolo Jungle, OK? He died yesterday, OK? Like, whatever.

Envious of that plush gig.

Um, you were expecting some goulish dried up figure in dark robes?

butter face

butter everything

/fxt

I would love to be an Obit writer. The crap that is out there now is just crap.

Humanizing obits would really help in the healing process just a bit and help those of us who love to read obits something to chew on.

I wonder what she'll write for this headline?

Shirley Ujest: I would love to be an Obit writer. The crap that is out there now is just crap.

+1 Funniest thing I've read this year.

/ Writing crap with crap vocabulary, crap.

Why would anyone think that writing obits is a ghoulish job? If done well, it's tremendously humanizing and informative journalism, and is something that would bring a great deal of comfort to the family.

Now that I think about it, I'd love to do this. Wonder if I could land this as a side gig with no experience in journalism? I suppose I'd have to do an example obituary and send it in with my application.

Beloved Aunt

shuff1967: Whatever the case, that was a better-written article than 95% 45% or> of the dreck known as news writing that I read on a daily basis.

FTFY.

badscooter: Beloved Aunt

Very nice...

I thought that people had family members write them. I saw one in our local paper a few weeks ago that was 1.2 columns....guy was in WWII (stateside, never left the us) and they took 2 paragraphs talking about the raves guys in the pacific gave him on his ability to get them their swag. Then tidbits from each kid and most of the grandkids. Reagan's obit wasn't as long.

Nice article. Thanks, subby.

What death may look like

This is nothing new.... in that every paper at some time does the Obit Writer piece. It is hackey.

Hmm, maby she could write mine. The headline
Man Dies in threesome with obit writer and porn star

She has the crazy eyes goin in this one.

/is that the 'save the internets' lady/thing there?

Obit: Joe dropped out and was born. Joe dropped in and was covered with dirt. Poor Joe. Feds looking for wife of Joe. Joe wasn't so poor.

She's cute, and that is all that really matters in life...or death.

Anyone have a link that works?

Dramatic short paragraphs.

I couldn't finish.

"It gets old," the Jerk said.

Reading that was like listening to a breathless sorority girl. Because at some point, some teacher told her to write it as she would speak it.

So, is that rigor mortis or am I happy to see her?

Dear Jerk: Because at some point, some teacher told her to write it as she would speak it.

I write like I speak because that's how I write, and how I've always written. Why do you think it's any different for her? Let me guess...because she's young and a girl.

Condescend much?

This coming out a week after that tasteless profile of the dead stripper. Coincidence?

"If you want to
improve, be content to be
thought foolish and stupid."

Can I be a jackass?

An interesting if poorly written article. In a used book picked up some years ago I found a clipping of Billie Holiday's 1959 obit from the NYT. The writing was so superior to modern newspaper writing that I fear the national IQ has dropped 50 points in 50 years.

Confabulat 2009-02-22 09:32:19 AM
Condescend much?

Usually, I'll cut a lot of slack to a young, pretty woman. Which is condescending. In this case, I'm being critical because she's overusing a trick (the short, dramatic paragraph) that by its nature should be used sparingly.

I started reading the article with the intention of reading the whole thing, but I didn't finish. So I had to ask myself, 'why did the journalist fail?'

Dear Jerk: Dramatic short paragraphs.

I couldn't finish.

"It gets old," the Jerk said.

Reading that was like listening to a breathless sorority girl. Because at some point, some teacher told her to write it as she would speak it.

Couldn't agree more. I rolled my eyes at my computer screen when she described her favorite feathered pen. It makes her sooo edgy.

Chuckles the Clown Obit/eulogy from the MTM show

http://1heckofaguy.com/2008/02/01/eulogy-for-chuckles-lauds-clown-laughter-tro us er-effervescence/

My lawn - stay off

Would like a word ...



Link is hot.

radioman_: An interesting if poorly written article. In a used book picked up some years ago I found a clipping of Billie Holiday's 1959 obit from the NYT. The writing was so superior to modern newspaper writing that I fear the national IQ has dropped 50 points in 50 years.

Found that Billie Holiday obit. Nicely written but I don't see much that demanding a high IQ. Guess who was writing the obituaries for the NY Times in 1959? Not sure, but that was around the time when Gay Talese was their obituary writer.

I just read "The Gay Talese Reader" which includes many of Talese's most important articles, including "Mr. Bad News", the portrait of an obituary writer mentioned by Ms. Hayes. (Her assessment of the man as "The Grim Reaper" was way off the mark.)

I searched the newspaper for a couple of the obits she wrote. They are actually pretty well done. Onetime TV personality held a tobacco company responible for emphysema

Hah, I was an obit writer for a small town newspaper after I got laid off from my dot-com job in San Francisco and couch-surfed around the U.S. (and two-star-hotel-surfed around Europe).

Of course, I also had to enter the bowling scores, wedding announcements and reformat the letters to the editor, but the obits were my primary task.

I did learn a lot about AP style, contacting the Veterans' Administration for verifications of medals (people are very serious about the medals their dead father earned) and finding exact locations of burial plots in the USGS website (some cemeteries spill into neighboring counties).

I also got to go over the obits every night with a copy editor I had a crush on. She would read them out loud to me, then I would read them out loud to her.

It was fun, mostly because I lived two blocks from where I worked, and I enjoyed the reaction when I told people what I did.

Off course, it only paid $10/hour, after making dot-com money in San Francisco...So I only lasted three months before heading on to better things.

The End

Confabulat: Dear Jerk: Because at some point, some teacher told her to write it as she would speak it.

I write like I speak because that's how I write, and how I've always written. Why do you think it's any different for her? Let me guess...because she's young and a girl.

Condescend much?

I think the GPs point was that a large number of us attended educational establishments where we learned to write in a formal tone. Sorry you missed out on that. Then we were later instructed by a failed novelist creative writing instructor to 'write the way you speak', which is horrible advice for the majority of Americans.

/Personally I meander back and forth between formal voice and informal voice depending on the circumstances.

//How hard is it to implement an up to date version of HTML parsing? The 'strike' tag has been deprecated for awhile now in favor of 'del'.

/fap

Came for the Larry David reference. Leaving satisfied....

Cheryl's dad: "Devoted sister, beloved c**t"?! That's what you put in the paper?!
Larry: This is a typo! It should be aunt!
Cheryl: Did Jeff look at this before he turned it in?
Larry: They have proofreaders at papers!

Surprised nobody said they're dying to meet this hottie writer!

The Economist obits are hands down the best out there.

The end.

Dinah Shore, eh?

I was an obituary editor at the newspaper, and if I read these replies I'm sure I'd get a kick out of them.


/Would do 300 in a week, shoot...must be slow in St. Petersburg.

Gaddum (new window)
Slightly NSFWish