Sandra Martin's Year-Ender

Nice thoughts, lively summary of professional high jinks, a few standout stiffs from the past year. Missing only a dirge for those colleagues who've received death notices of their own.

"Santa Baby" singer dies on Christmas.

I realize that Eartha Kitt was much more than a sultry singer who portrayed Catwoman in the campy "Batman" TV series of the 1960s.

But you have to admit that it's significant that the woman, whose biggest hit record was "Santa Baby," should die on Christmas Day - Dec. 25, 2008.

I was disheartened to see that so many newspapers published obits that buried the Christmassy irony toward the end of her obituary. Many didn't connect the dots between the song and the date of death at all.

In some papers, it was left up to the headline writer to put it together.

In his Kitt piece for Obit Magazine, Daniel Patrick Stearns does a nice job of tying together the holiday elements with the Kitt's sexually and politically provocative persona near the top of his story.

He writes:

Sex symbols always confront the world’s morality, but few went to such lengths as Eartha Kitt, who died on Christmas Day from colon cancer at age 81 after some six decades of being a flash point of provocative glamour. Whether asking Santa Claus for a yacht (with an obvious payback in mind) in her hit “Santa Baby” or seductively plying a man young enough to be her grandson with champagne during her nightclub act, Kitt presented herself with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude that defied the judgments of others.

Purr-fect.

Van Johnson's sexual orientation

Lesli Klaiberg of Orchard Films makes this observation about obits that were written for actor Van Johnson, a movie star of the 1940s and '50s, who died Dec. 12, 2008, at age 92.

"An interesting obit comparison. The NY Times vs The Advocate," Lesli says. "In this day and age, why no mention of Van Johnson being gay in the Times? Hmm??"

My anti-cult cult

I am really sick of the use of "cult" to describe kitsch or obscure. Cult adherents worship. They supplicate. They sacrifice. None of these things are true about the following show biz figures, most of whom are distinctly low-watt. Obit writers: I ask you to use words thoughtfully!

[Bettie] Page, whose popularity underwent a cult-like revival in the last 20 years, had been hospitalized for three weeks with pneumonia and was about to be released Dec. 2 when she suffered a heart attack, said Mr. Roesler, of CMG Worldwide.

[Nina Foch] Despite her obvious capabilities, she became inextricably stuck in B-movies, some of which achieved near cult status. Examples are I Love a Mystery (1945), The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947), The Dark Past (1948) and Johnny Allegro (1949), with George Raft.

[Beverly Garland] She gained cult status for playing gutsy women in low-budget exploitation films such as “The Alligator People” and a number of Roger Corman movies including “Gunslinger,” “It Conquered the World” and “Naked Paradise.”

[Paul Benedict] He was a staple in Christopher Guest's stock company, with roles in "A Mighty Wind," "Waiting for Guffman" and "Spinal Tap." He was also seen in 1970s cult pics such as "Deadhead Miles," "Taking Off" and "Smile."

Jim Morrison, his dad and the owner of the Whisky A Go Go

New York Times columnist Verlyn Klinkenborg wrote an interesting column titled A Curious Convergence in which he discusses the recent deaths of rock legend Jim Morrison's father and the owner of the Whisky A Go Go, where Morrison's The Doors came to prominence.

The column ran in print edition of the NYT on Dec. 11, 2008, and in the NYT online on Dec. 10.

Klinkenborg noted that Morrison's name appeared in the two men's NYT obits on the day after what would have been Morrison's 65th birthday.

This is the celebrity version of an obit convergence, but don't you obit writers and faithful obit readers frequently find similar convergences for all sorts of people?

Sunny von Bulow

In the book "Insulin Murders" (London Royal Society of Medicine Press 2007), co-authors Caroline Richmond, who writes obits for the British Medical Journal and other publications, and Vincent Marks, an international expert on insulin, detail the medical aspects of the Sunny von Bulow case.

Sunny von Bulow, an heiress who spent nearly 28 years in a coma before dying Dec. 6, 2008, at age 76, was the subject of the book (and subsequent movie) "Reversal of Fortune" by lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who represented her husband, Claus von Bulow, in one of two attempted-murder trials. The husband allegedly tried to kill the heiress with an overdose of insulin.

Caroline says: There was no attempt at murder: her coma and persistent vegetative state was a result of abusing medicines, mainly painkillers, alcohol, appetite suppressant and other prescription drugs. There are accurate accounts in Alan Dershowitz's book, my book, and Wikipedia. And plenty of inaccurate acounts.

Caroline's obit for von Bulow was published today - Mon., Dec. 8, 2008 - in The Independent.

Andrew McKie, no longer obits editor at Daily Telegraph

You can tell the newspaper business is cratering and that newspaper execs have poor judgment when an extraordinary obits editor is given his walking papers.

The article "Obits editor among redundancies at the Daily Telegraph" that was published today - Dec. 1, 2008 - in The Guardian of London says:

The Daily Telegraph's obituaries editor, Andrew McKie, is among the first departures in the latest round of redundancies from the Telegraph Media Group.

McKie was given notice at lunchtime on Friday and has already left the Telegraph Media Group building in Victoria.

This is a travesty!

18th Century obits - wonderful article

"The modern obsession with celebrity started in 18th-century Britain with obituaries of unusual people published in what served as the gossip sheets of the era, an English literature scholar says."

Times-Tribune claims newspaper plagiarized obits

Times-Tribune claims newspaper plagiarized obits


BY ERIN L. NISSLEY
STAFF WRITER
Published: Thursday, November 06, 2008
Updated: Thursday, November 6, 2008 4:19 AM EST
The Times-Tribune sued the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co. and The Times Leader on Wednesday, claiming the Wilkes-Barre paper plagiarized more than 50 obituaries written and published in The Times-Tribune starting in late October.

The suit, filed in Lackawanna County Court, lists seven claims, including misappropriation, unfair competition, fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

The Times-Tribune is asking a judge to award damages in excess of $210,000 for lost profits, lost customers, loss of good will and damage to existing business relationships. The suit also asks that The Times Leader be barred from copying Times-Tribune obituaries or any other content from its newspapers or Web site.

Starting on Oct. 27, The Times Leader “simply copied obituaries from The Times-Tribune, The Sunday Times and/or The Scranton Times’ Web site” and published them in the Wilkes-Barre paper’s Scranton edition, the suit claims.

Attached to the lawsuit are examples of 50 obituaries that ran in The Times-Tribune through Oct. 31 and the same obituaries — down to punctuation, structure and style — that ran in The Times Leader a day or more later.

“It’s disturbing,” said Times-Tribune Managing Editor Lawrence K. Beaupre. “I’ve never seen such a vast and blatant example of plagiarism in my 40 years of journalism. They just took our work and presented it to their readers as if it were their own.”

Staffers at The Times-Tribune spoke to funeral directors involved with the 50-plus obituaries in question. The directors indicated they did not send any obituary information to The Times Leader and did not request that the obituaries be published in that paper, according to the lawsuit.

Publishing obituaries taken directly from The Times-Tribune constitutes unfair competition, the lawsuit says, and falsely conveys to the public and funeral homes in Lackawanna County that certain funeral homes are doing business with The Times Leader.

On Oct. 27, Times-Tribune attorney J. Timothy Hinton Jr. contacted Times Leader Publisher Richard Connor and told him The Times Leader was publishing obituaries copied directly from The Times-Tribune and The Sunday Times. Mr. Connor said he would look into the situation, according to the lawsuit.

A day later, Times-Tribune obituaries were still being published in The Times Leader, the suit says. Mr. Hinton faxed a letter to Mr. Connor requesting that his newspaper stop publishing obituaries taken from The Times-Tribune. The Wilkes-Barre paper did not stop, however, which led to the lawsuit.

Times Leader lawyer Ralph Kates had not seen the lawsuit Wednesday evening but said he had several discussions with Mr. Hinton prior to the suit being filed.

“I know of no law The Times Leader has violated in printing these obituaries,” Mr. Kates said.

He said both newspapers participate in a Web site called Legacy.com, a searchable database of obituaries from around the country, which he says permits “any participant to copy and publish any obituary from that Web site.”

Legacy.com’s terms of use, a copy of which is attached to the lawsuit, prohibits the use of its content for commercial activities.

“This isn’t about dollars and cents, it’s about right versus wrong,” Mr. Hinton said. “They might as well be photocopying our classified ads and selling them on the street corner.”

Contact the writer: enissley@timesshamrock.com

Happy Halloween from Obit Magazine

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Follow the links for some scary, spooky and interesting stories from your friends at Obit Magazine.

Spooky Scary Halloween Stories
Obit's Spookiest and scariest stories for your fright and delight this Halloween.

A Surprise One Would Never Seek
By Jeff Weinstein
You’re wandering through a cinematic moonlit graveyard, when, with a shudder, you are unaccountably pulled toward a newly polished, upright stone. You approach, and…yes, it’s Your Own Name, the date of death obscured by your own shadow.

My Heart Will Go On
By Natalie Pompilio
Ghosts, spectres and spooky apparitions populate Mary Roach's Spook. A Review.

Coffin it Up
By Joyce Gemperlein
For some people, having a handcrafted coffin on standby is not a macabre or depressing idea.

A Day for Skeletons and Skulls
By Ray Gonzalez
Family and friends are remembered on the Day of the Dead.

Going in Style
By Joyce Gemperlein
Hearses find new lives in the hands of collectors

When Death Came to Call
By Lesléa Newman
Death, like a furry brown bat with a wingspread as wide as a pterodactyl’s, shrank Himself to the size of a quarter and slipped in through the crack underneath my front door.

Rosa: The Philadelphia Hero

Philly's Joe the Plumber:

This 10/26/08 obituary (especially the end) by Gayle Ronan Sims, chief obituary writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, caught the eye of Obama's campaign. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania does not offer early voting so Rosa never got to cast her vote.

By Gayle Ronan Sims

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Rosa Bonds, 75, a feisty warrior who organized other fearless seniors to battle drug dealers on the streets of East Germantown, died of congestive heart failure Oct. 14 at Einstein at Elkins Park.

In search of a better life, Rosa Mae Rice moved from Spartanburg, S.C., in the fifth grade to live with her aunts in North Philadelphia. After graduating from William Penn High School, she married George Bonds in 1952, and the couple raised five children in Tioga.

Mrs. Bonds moved her family in 1960 to a white stone Victorian twin on quiet, leafy Pastorius Street off Germantown Avenue - still searching for that better life. When gangs, drugs, guns, firebombs and prostitution plagued her neighborhood, she decided to fight instead of run.

A block captain and ward leader for decades, Mrs. Bonds, who ran for state representative a couple of times, was vice president of the Germantown Community Improvement Alliance in the 1970s. She and about a dozen neighbors boarded up drug houses and chased off dealers. They patrolled neighborhoods throughout the city with community organizers such as C.B. Kimmins and the Guardian Angels.

In the 1980s, Mrs. Bonds founded East Germantown Against Drugs (EGAD) with Willie Witherspoon. She marched with ward leader Joseph C. Messa and District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, who fought for city funding for the antidrug task forces.

"Most of the members were seniors," Kimmins said. "Rosa was a tiny, courageous fighter. She was not afraid of anyone."

At 60, Mrs. Bonds was the youngest in her group in 1993. About a dozen strong, the stubborn band of seniors did battle three to five nights a week on the shadowy drug corners in East Germantown, such as one near Baynton and Pastorius Streets. They covered their white hair with white EGAD helmets, wore blue jackets, and shined flashlights at dealers.

One night in 1994, a young thug turned off Osceola Street onto Pastorius with an arrogant strut. Mrs. Bonds, who knew many of the dealers and users in the neighborhood, said, "This one's a dealer."

She raised her megaphone and blared in a threatening, taunting voice: "Drug dealer, drug dealer, drug dealer, drug dealer, drug dealer."

The thug did not stop, so Mrs. Bonds launched another chant: "You can run, but you can't hide. We charge you with genocide."

The punk waved a plastic bag of drugs at the group, but he did not sell them that night on that street. The corner belonged to the 5-foot-3 grandmother and her courageous band of warriors.

Four generations lived in Mrs. Bonds' home, and all of them were cheated by crime. She taught her children at a young age to stay away from the window and hit the floor if they heard a shot.

"My mother worked at the Obama headquarters at Wayne and Chelten Avenues until two weeks before her death," son Chester said. "She had a stack of voter-registration forms inside our front door. Anyone who came in had to register. If she saw drug dealers outside, she went out there with a fistful of forms and said, 'I hate you, and I want you out of here, but register to vote first.' "

In addition to her son Chester, Mrs. Bonds is survived sons George and William Sr., daughters Rosalind and Anor, and 10 grandchildren. Her husband died in 1999.

A funeral service was held Oct. 18.

Memorial donations may be sent to Mothers in Charge, Allegheny Business Center, 2233 W. Allegheny Ave., Philadelphia 19132.

---

Contact staff writer Gayle Ronan Sims at 215-854-4185 or gsims@phillynews.com.

Dead Economics

For those who love their wry style (like me), Ann Wroe and Keith Colghoun's finest work can be found in the forthcoming "The Economist Book of Obituaries", out next month in time for the festive season (and is that a Monty Python reference on the cover?).

Presumably it went to press too early to include the late lamented Dow Jones.

Hearty congratulations

....go out to our very own Jim Sheeler.

Jim's latest book, “Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives,” which was adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning work in the Rocky Mountain News about soldiers killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, was named a finalist for a National Book Award.

Nicely done!

P. J. O'Rourke looks death in the eye

Gayle Sims, Philadelphia Inquirer obituary writer, shares this P. J. O'Rourke opinion piece from Sept. 28, 2008, that caught her attention in the Los Angeles Times.

In the article titled "Give Me Liberty, and Give Me Death", O'Rourke writes: I looked death in the face. All right, I didn't. I glimpsed him in a crowd. I've been diagnosed with cancer, of a very treatable kind.

As O'Rourke goes on to talk about facing - or at least thinking about - his own mortality, he offers thoughts on the concepts of death, science and God.

He writes: No doubt death is one of those mysterious ways in which God famously works. Except, on consideration, death isn't mysterious. Do we really want everyone to be around forever?

A longer version of this fun-to-read, intriguing, amusing and somewhat religious story (strike the "somewhat") was published in Search Magazine.

New York Times obit writer talks about his work

For your reading pleasure:

Q&A with New York Times obituary writer Bruce Weber.

Obituary for The New York Sun

Steve Miller (byline Stephen Miller) today, Sept. 30, 2008, had the task of penning an obituary for The New York Sun, where he has been obituaries editor since February 2003.

The obit, titled "Picking Up the Flag of the Sun," appears in the final edition of the 6-year-old publication.

Steve, known for his intense researching abilities and attention to detail, does an admirable job of summing up the life of this institution.

The setting of the Sun also means the end of Steve's career there, but life on the death beat goes on. He will continue handling the "Remembrances" obits in the Wall Street Journal.

Totally not an obit cliché

The paid death notice for Ruth E. Rencevicz, which was printed in the Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal Sept. 10, 2008, begins with:

Ruth E. Rencevicz, born Ruth Elizabeth Sechrist on August 28, 1927, passed away on September 7, 2008 due to complications resulting from her children making her old before her time.

Among her survivors: an illegitimate child conceived when the circus was in town named Greg "The Donkey" King.

She had an interesting work history:

Ruth also served her country as a covert spy for the Central Intelligence Agency, where during the Cold War she was largely responsible for the breakup of the Soviet Union near the end of the 20th century. At least, that's the way she told it.

She helped mold young people:

Ruth was also very active as a volunteer with youth in her community in Tallmadge, Ohio, where she was known to selflessly give of her time by standing on her balcony yelling at kids for "playing that rap music" at all hours of the day and night. She also served as a mentor to young people by throwing rocks at teenagers dressed in loose baggy pants with their underwear exposed. She winged a couple of 'em pretty good, from what we understand.

But wait! There's more! You should read all of what the family wrote about her.

I haven't started reading the 46 pages of guest book comments yet.

Obit cliches

Thanks to everyone who contributed! Special props to Amy Martinez Starke, who rounded up an impressive 112 cliches, some of them particular to the Pacific Northwest though none involving any vice-presidential nominees from Alaska.
Here's an edited list of everyone's worst offenders:

Died doing what s/he loved
An avid (noun)
Never met a stranger
A Renaissance (wo)man
Now sitting next to (golfing with/fishing with/tipping cows with, etc.) Jesus
A giving/caring individual
Would give you the shirt off his back [or her back, though that evokes coarse thoughts]
Always there for you/me
Would do anything for anybody [hmm. ANYthing? More coarse thoughts]
Only saw the best in people
Chose his own path (walked to the beat of his own drummer, etc)
Friend to all, enemy of none
Man (woman) of the world
Smile lit up the room
Didn't suffer fools
Could talk to anyone, from a CEO to a janitor
Made every minute count
A soul mate
Tackled life with (adjective) gusto
Connoisseur of life's ironies
A gentleman/lady first
Had many fine qualities
Enhanced the lives of those around him/her
Generous to a fault
Known for boundless energy
Friend to the friendless
A (wo)man of quiet dignity
His/her family was his/her life
A private person
Personality larger than life
Built that business on a handshake
Trailblazer/ blazed trails for others to follow
Strict but fair
A voracious (noun)
A consummate (noun)
A gifted (noun)
An accomplished (noun)
Had an insatiable passion for (noun)
Had an inexhaustible love of (noun) [though I think if the noun were "truly improbable pornography" or "collecting Happy Meal toys," it would be OK, but that's just me]
A seeker of truth/wisdom/meaning
Honest as the day is long [again, I think this would be OK if the day were above the Arctic Circle, in winter]
Yin to his/her yang
When you were near (name), you knew you were in the presence of someone special
Will be sorely missed
A poet's soul
Broke the mold
Door was always open/always kept an open door
A perfectionist
Never complained
possessed many fine qualities
Enhanced all lives s/he touched
Loved (children/wife/friends/dog) more than life itself
An inspiration to all
Never any self-pity
Never asked, 'Why me?'
Never said a negative word
Left the world a better place
An all-around nice guy/gal
Will be remembered for his quick wit [exception: If he said "Hey, watch this!" and overstepped the overlook ledge while at the Grand Canyon]
Truly one of a kind
Not soon be forgotten.
"No," "Can't" and "Won't" weren't part of his/her vocabulary
Never a dull moment
Refused to give in or give up
Loved by people from all walks
Gave the gift of laughter/life/love/STDs [sorry, not that last one]
A heart big as all outdoors/ so big that it finally wore out
No degree, but never stopped learning
Student of life
Took many under his/her wing
Honest and true
A thirst for knowledge
Ahead of his/her time
Heart of gold
Always gave 100%/110%
Excelled at everything
Enjoyed spending time with her family, walking in the rain, and pina coladas
Her (family/friends/pets/miniatures collection) were the light of her life
Hailed from a prominent family, with ancestors who were fourth (fifth, etc.) generation (effete noun)
A tireless/untireing/dauntless champion of (cause)
Left a legacy of (blank)
Awards too numerous to mention
Had many honors/awards but never talked/bragged about them
A simple (wo)man
A child at heart
Never lost that child-like innocence [OK for Happy Meal toy collector though]
Marriage had a few bumps in the road [OK for Henry VIII]
Died peacefully with his familyi at his side
Engaged all with her witty conversation
Left this life with no regrets
A natural born (vocation noun)
Would have wanted it that way
Zest for life [and, incidentally, his favorite brand of soap! Memento bars will be distributed following the service.]
A self-made wo/man
Only father/mother they ever knew
Wasn't that kind of (wo)man
In heaven now/With Jesus now, gathering all the angels for (favorite activity)
Succumbed to cancer after a long and courageous battle
Loved life
A people person [Soylent Green!]
A consummate (vocational or avocational noun)
A (vocational noun)'s (vocational noun)
An icon
Never be another like him/her
Always learning new things
Graduate of the School of Hard Knocks
Just getting his/her life together/turned around
A role model
Didn't talk much about himself [exception: When Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh dies, for a guaranteed laugh]
Not a churchgoer but very religious/faithful
Always a twinkle in his/her eye
Knight in shining armor
Enjoyed/lived each day to its fullest

Got more? Post 'em!

WARNING about deathrecordsobituarysearch.com scam

I feel like an absolute fool. I'm sharing what just happened so you don't fall into the same trap.



Most immediate warning: DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO http://www.deathrecordsobituarysearch.com/!!!!!



The rest of this warning could apply to any similar situation.



Here's the story.



An anonymous blog visitor posted a comment on one of our posts giving high praise to http://www.deathrecordsobituarysearch.com/ as godsend for getting death records and such.



Warning #1: Don't accept anything that an anonymous commenter, e-mailer or whatever tells you.



I knew that. Honestly, I knew that. But for the last several weeks I've been looking for obituaries or any other records of death for members of my high school graduating class who reportedly are deceased. And I've also developed a renewed desire to know more about my genealogy.



My fervent desire to believe that this anonymously recommended search engine would readily help me clouded my judgement.



Warning #2: If it's too good to be true, it probably is.



At the Web site, you enter a way-too-simple search - only the first name and last name of the person whose records you seek - to get started. If this were a useful Web site, supposedly searcing death and obituary records around the world for hundreds of years, you'd at least need a middle initial, wouldn't you?



I entered a search anyway, fool that I am, for "Nancy Walters." I graduated from high school with Nancy Charlene Wilson, who by all accounts married some guy named Walters.



Her name is so common that I've had difficulty finding anything definite on her via the Internet. I found a Nancy Walters in SSDI who was a year younger than most of my classmates and who is listed as dying in October 1979. No specific date of death. I believe that's my Nancy, unless my Nancy's surname changed again before she died.



The recommended Web site boasted marriage records too. You get the picture.



Warning #3: Be wary if you have to pay without getting a free sample.



My search for Nancy Walters resulted in a "You must be registered" prompt. Okay. Saying who you are makes sense. But the various levels of registration all included making a payment for periods of time ranging from 3 days to 5 years.



Yep. Yours truly paid up.



Warning #4: Read the terms of the agreement. Don't simply print it out and click "I accept."



If I had read this very last item, I would have retreated immediately:



This website is for your own personal use only. You may NOT send automated queries to our system, republishing or redistributing any data on this website is strictly prohibited. Usage of this website and all information contained within is subject to West Bengal, India law. By accessing SearchMyRecords.com, you also certify and attest that you are NOT affiliated with any local, state, or federal law enforcement agency. If you are, you are NOT permitted to proceed past this page and must leave this website immediately.



Warning #5: Don't read offers like that before you're fully awake.

Whoops a daisies!

Bloomberg published an obituary for Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Aug. 27. The problem? Jobs is still alive.

The news organization blames an electronic error for the release of the advance obit and later issued a retraction. But the mistake provides a lesson for all obituary writers working in the Information Age. If you write advancers, be sure to store the articles on a different server than the one that runs your live site.

On the plus side, Jobs is still alive. Plus, he got a sneak peek at what one media outlet plans to say about him when he eventually dies. Who wouldn't want to read that?