People's Picks for obit tributes

Some famous people are featured in the top entries of the Tribute category of the 2011 Society of Professional Obituary Writers competition.

If you like the obit for Tony Curtis, prefer the one for Solomon Burke or think one for a person you've never heard of is the most awesome, that's dandy.

But please don't choose the movie star because he's your all-time favorite actor or the soul singer because you like his music.

Please choose the obit that moves you, informs you and/or entertains you.

Click the name to read the obit.
Tony Curtis

Solomon Burke

Gene Kiniski

Jim Wakefield

Ronald Chase Sr.

People's Picks: Short-form Body of Work

Click each "lettered" obit writer. Read all five obits that were written by that individual. Then choose your favorite.

Obit writer F

Obit writer G

Obit writer H

Obit writer I

Obit writer J

The People's Picks Poll: The Unofficial Popularity Contest for Obit Writing

Click here to read Obit writer A's 5 obits.

Obit writer B's work is here.

Here's Obit writer C's entry.

And Obit writer D.

And finally Obit writer E.

These are the five finalists for the Long-form Body of Work category of the 2011 Society of Professional Obituary Writer's Awards for obit writing.

And this is the first installment of the 2011 SPOW People's Picks Poll.

This just-for-fun exercise allows the public to let us know which obits and obit writers they like best. It has no bearing on the official winners. A panel of obituary professionals has already selected the winners in all eight categories as well as the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.

(I know, I know. Obit writers getting awards for "body" of work and "lifetime" achievement does seem a bit ironic.)

All entries are presented without bylines, headlines or photos. The obits have to stand on their own.

And they do!

To the contestants: Great work!

Lifetime summed up in four words or less

Lou Wigdor, senior writer and editor for the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, wrote about "reader-penned necros" from the Daily Hampshire Gazette for his Wig & Pen blog.

He hopes you'll find the piece entertaining.

Public Eavesdropping in the San Francisco Chronicle

"I haven't read the obituaries yet. I'm saving them for dessert." Elderly man reading the newpaper and talking to his mate, overheard at the French Hotel in Berkeley by Robin May.

Avoiding the 'knight in shining armor' and other obituary cliches

I recently conducted an obit workshop at the 2011 CMA-CBI Spring College Media Convention in New York City called "Death Is Your Editor." Over the course of an hour, I talked about how to:

* breathe life into obituary writing
* research a subject you can’t interview
* avoid the curse of the cliche
* write the last word on someone’s life

Then I had the audience pen the opening lines of their own obits. Here is one attendee's take on the workshop.

Awkward

The Guardian discovers a convicted criminal wrote an obituary of one of his victims. Chris Elliott, whose title is reader's editor, writes about contributions published in good faith.

Writing Obits: A mini tutorial

For the briefest tutorial ever on obit writing, check out this obitpage.com podcast link.
Carolyn Gilbert, founder of Obitpage.com, interviews Kay Powell in this podcast. It takes several minutes to view.
While you're on the page, check out the other obit podcasts posted regularly by Gilbert and Dr. Cory Franklin.
Those podcasts are online obits for the dead. I am Kay Powell, and I am not dead.

Another byline for the NYTimes counterpart of Dr. Death

Donn Downey of the Globe and Mail. Mel Gussow of the New York Times.

Both wrote advance obits for Elizabeth Taylor, whose famous hospital stays probably outnumbered her movie roles.

And the indomitable Ms. Taylor outlived both obit writers.

Mara Gray posted a brief article about Gussow for AOL News titled "Elizabeth Taylor's Obit Writer Died 6 Years Ago".

Another byline for the late Dr. Death

A full-page obit of Elizabeth Taylor in the March 24 edition of the Globe and Mail was written by Donn Downey, a veteran obituarist who died in April, 2001. This was his 12th credited obit since his death. His own obit in the newspaper, based in Toronto, Canada, noted that the well-liked wordsmith was known by his colleagues as Dr. Death.

A FOBIT Is Born

There's nothing like a death in the family to create a new FOBIT, Friend of Obits. Check out this Huffington Post piece by Pamela Tom. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-tom/finding-glory-in-life-in-_b_838237.html

The Ides of March: Deadline for entering obituary writing competition



 Just a reminder: The deadline for submitting entries for the 2011 Society of Professional Obituary Writers Awards is March 15.

If you need an extension, please let us know.

Click here for contest details.

Pictured above right is Kay Powell, showing off the two SPOW Awards she won in 2008. Last year, Kay became the third recipient of the SPOW Lifetime Achievement Award.

2011 Society of Professional Obituary Writers Conference and Registration

Society of Professional Obituary Writers Conference
May 12-14, 2011
St. Petersburg, Fla.

Thursday, May 12:

6 p.m. – SPOW Conference kickoff dinner starts at 6 p.m. at The Columbia at the Pier restaurant, 800 2nd Avenue N.E., St. Petersburg. Individuals are responsible for ordering and paying for their own meals. (fyi: We may have to change the time from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Stay tuned.)

All sessions Friday and Saturday at The Poynter Institute, 801 Third Street South, St. Petersburg. All times are approximate. Schedule is subject to change.

Friday, May 13:
9-10 a.m.- Welcome, opening remarks and “Getting to know you” icebreaker, followed by short break.

10-11:30 a.m. - Keynote speaker: Kelly McBride, a senior Poynter faculty member, will speak about reporting, writing and ethics pertaining to obituary writing.

11:30 a.m. - Short subject to be determined.

Noon - 2011 SPOW Awards luncheon
Lunch followed by presentation of SPOW Awards.
Winners will be asked to share the story behind their winning obits and to take questions.



1-4 p.m. (in not particular order) - Award winners will continue the lunchtime talk, if necessary.
Dan Reimold, a journalism professor at the University of Tampa, and Michelle Boyet, a former online producer for The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, will present a session on blogging and social media.
"I’ve got something to say" - Obit writers talk about whatever’s on their minds.

Friday sessions will end no later than 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 14:
9 a.m.  - Brief explanation of Poynter Institute’s News University online obituary writing course by its instructor, Alana Baranick, a.k.a. SPOW director.



 9:30-11 a.m. -  Police Forum: A panel of St. Petersburg Times and Patch.com reporters and editors will discuss coverage of their city’s recent series of police shootings, obituaries written for the dead police, coverage of their funerals and other issues raised in the process. Local host Andrew Meacham will lead the forum.

11:30 a.m.-noon: Conference wrap-up, SPOW business, 2012 SPOW Convention.

Additional topics will be addressed before and after the aforementioned highlights. Our time at Poynter ends at noon Saturday. This will allow conferees to continue independent discussions off campus, if they like, do the tourist thing or leave town early.

Registration is being handled through EventBrite.com. Click here to read about and pay for registration fees and membership dues.

Hotel Indigo, 234 Third Ave. North, St. Petersburg, is our official conference hotel.

Make reservations by calling the hotel directly at 727.822.4814 by April 12, 2011, to get the Early Bird rate of $99 per night.

Rambling man: Nature lover’s life full of peaks, valleys

Another outstanding local news story. Who said good writing in small-town dailies is dead?

Mash those details

In case you haven't seen this on Facebook:

Overheard in the Newsroom

Obituary editor: “Can you imagine liking mashed potatoes so much that it’s included in your obituary?”

To us, that's a detail worth exploring.

Barbara "Bookie" Grasgreen, daughter of a "ne'er-do-well absentee father"

Barbara Grasgreen's family may have gotten carried away while writing Grasgreen's obituary that ran in the paid death notice section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Feb. 9, 2011. Or perhaps the deceased wrote her own obit in advance.

Whatever the case, the obit starts with an attention grabbing sentence:
BARBARA GRASGREEN "BOOKIE" (Weiner) was born in 1923 in Pittsburgh to immigrant parents; Morris, a cooper and ne'er-do-well absentee father and Ida Gorodinsky, a seamstress and dedicated, determined, nurturing mother.

Click here to read the whole obit before it disappears from the Internet.

Green Burial in Georgia

Green burial is gaining popularity. Our colleague Kate Sweeney, pictured here, has produced a piece on Georgia's only conservation burial ground for the Atlanta PBS station, WABE. Here's the link to Kate's story:
http://www.pba.org/programming/programs/citycafe/

Founded by monks of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit 80 years ago, the burial ground is filled not with tombstone after tombstone but with birds and trees and indigenous wildlife and flora.

Kate's segment records her trip to the burial ground with Pat Fahey who visits his wife, Jackie, buried there in a grave he and his sons dug.

Go with Kate to this conservation burial ground, one of only five in the nation.

Granny's Virtual Funeral

Can't make it to a funeral? Work, distance keeping you away? Not to worry. Now you can view the funeral online while at work or at a bar. The phenom may be coming to your town soon. Check out this New York Times article about the growth in the number of funeral homes now streaming funeral services online, some open to everyone, some by invitation only.
I found an online funeral site years ago and shared it with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newsroom. You can just imagine the comments that prompted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/fashion/25death.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

We Find That One Good Story

At the Lincoln Journal Star, Cindy Lange-Kubick tells the story of the dead to readers in Nebraska.

In the Sunday, Jan. 23 Journal Star, she has a 1A piece about her niche in the newsroom, http://journalstar.com/.

As a sidebar, Cindy interviewed me for a column, http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_1749d278-d583-51e6-b049-62ae875cf385.html.

It's always interesting to me to learn how different newspapers handle obits. I was delighted to talk with Cindy about the Journal Star's treatment of the interesting and notable people in its reader area when they die.

And, thanks to Alana and SPOW for keeping us all connected.

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