Carlos Alcala takes on the subject of euphemisms used in paid obituaries and death notices to inform readers that a person has died in "The 'D' Word" in today's (Jan. 19, 2010) Sacramento Bee.
Until I read it, I didn't realize that avoiding the D word is at least as old as the Bible. Alcala points out that in the book of Genesis (the first book of the Bible) "Abraham gave up the ghost . . . and was gathered unto his people."
Alcala also cites the website of Bea Toney Bailey, who has a local cable TV show called "Bea on Bereavement" sponsored by the Interfaith Service Bureau. The site is called "Farewell, My Friend."
Interesting stuff.
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