SPOW yet lives!

The Society of Professional Obituary Writers (SPOW) will host its first conference in two years in Toronto, Ontario, (Canada, if you didn't know) June 7-9, 2013.

Csillag

The event is being planned by SPOW Award-winning writer Ron Csillag and his team of merry Canadians. More to come on that.

SPOW also plans to go ahead with its annual awards - the SPOW Awards, a.k.a. Grimmies - honoring outstanding obit work published in 2011 and 2012. Another post (to be posted shortly) will provide details on that. In the meantime, dig up your obits published in those years for consideration. Outgoing SPOW director Alana Baranick (that would be me) is serving as contest coordinator.

Powell

Kay Powell, retired Atlanta Journal Constitution obits editor and winner of several SPOW Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, will handle Lifetime Achievement nominations. More on that soon too.

Meacham

Andrew Meacham, another SPOW Award winner from the Tampa Bay Times, has been named SPOW's acting director. He will be posting messages from SPOW on this Obituary Forum blog - www.obituaryforum.blogspot.com.

The SPOW website - www.obitwriters.org - will soon disappear from the Internet. The Obituary Forum blog and the general SPOW email - obitwriters.org@gmail.com - will serve as the best means for reaching SPOW.

Keep checking back for more SPOW news.