Inquiring Minds Want To Know

DEATH NOTICE: Joseph A. “Monkey Butt” Zajaczkowski, 60, of Medina, NY, entered into rest on Saturday, July 30, 2016 at his home.


Yet one more example of why we need journalists to write obits. How can someone publish this kind of death notice and not explain the story behind the nickname?

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Meet The Great And Captivating Kay Powell

In a lovely profile published in the latest issue of Mental Floss, writer Margaret Eby declared SPOW's very own Kay Powell as "America's Greatest Obituary Writer."

It's hard to disagree with that.

Eby described the process Powell used to write more than 2,000 obits for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and to "paint a picture of a complex city and an evolving South, and go well beyond the tropes of the form."

Powell also shared this wonderful bit of advice for those working on the death beat:

"Our job was to answer questions, not raise questions. We always gave the cause of death. We wrote about suicides, even though many papers won’t. The question you’re afraid to ask is the question you must ask.”

Click here for the full story.

Jim Sheeler: Professor, Pulitzer Prize Winner, Premier Obit Writer

We cannot overstate what Jim Sheeler has contributed to the art of the obituary. His outstanding work has led him to become an author, professor, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, and so much more. Now he's being honored by Case Western Reserve University where he teaches students to write stories outside their comfort zones. All of Jim's accomplishments and contributions are rooted in his excellent obituaries written early in his career. Check out what Case Western has to say about Jim being awarded the Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at its May 15 commencement ceremony.

For 3 decades, Mark Zaborney has penned the last word on Toledo's dead

A column in The Blade recently highlighted the illustrious career of SPOW's very own Mark Zaborney.

Thomas Walton shared stories about Zaborney's 32-year stint as the newspaper's obituary writer, and gave particular notice to how his "comforting, soothing style puts the family at ease during a difficult time."

“For me, obituaries are the history of the community, one person at a time," Zaborney said.


Click here to read the story.

WATCH: The new teaser trailer for 'Obit'

"Obit," the new documentary from director Vanessa Gould, gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at The New York Times‘ obituary department.

Obit editor William McDonald, along with past and present staff writers Bruce Weber, Margalit Fox, William Grimes, Douglas Martin and Paul Vitello share their thoughts about what it's like to cover the death beat for a living.

Here's the latest teaser trailer for the film:

The latest trend: Obituaries featuring political commentary

Have you checked the obituaries lately? Several members of the recently departed have been using death notices to make one final plea to voters about who they should back in November.

SPOW President Maureen O'Donnell discussed this trend with WBBM 780/105.9FM. Click here to listen to the report.

The best books about obituaries

The Society of Professional Obituary Writers website features a list of books for obituary writers and readers. Do you have any suggestions for other tomes we should add? If so, email us your favorite titles.

Obits: The Movie

OBIT, a documentary by Vanessa Gould, opens at the TriBeCa Film Festival on April 17. Starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio et al. Thanks to The New York Times reporter Bruce Weber for giving us a heads up on this.

Click here for a trailer preview of Ms. Gould's documentary on The New York Times obituaries. I can't wait until it hits my neighborhood theaters.

Margalit Speaks

The Paris Review published an interview with the inimitable Margalit Fox, The New York Times' 20-year obituary writer, in September 2014. Here's the top of Alex Ronan's interview with Margalit that's as good a read today as it was then.


In nearly twenty years and twelve hundred obituaries, Margalit Fox, a senior writer at the New York Times, has chronicled the lives of such personages as the president of Estonia, an underwater cartographer, and the inventor of Stove Top Stuffing. An instrumental figure in pushing the obituary past Victorian-era formal constraints, Fox produces features-style write-ups of her subjects whether they’re ubiquitous public figures, comparatively unknown men and women whose inventions have changed the world, or suicidal poets.  

(Photo by Ivan Farkas)

Click here for the full interview. I not only wish I could write as well as Margalit, I wish I could give as good an interview as her.

How to write your own obituary

Not famous enough to warrant a front-page obituary in the newspaper? Or perhaps your local media outlet has a limited staff and can't cover every death in the community. If you want to have your final story told, you may just have to write it yourself.

Here are a few tips on doing so.

Yes, more people really do die during the winter months

So why is this important? As Legacy.com founder Stopher Bartol noted:

"Because those who serve the needs of people experiencing the death of a friend or loved one should be aware that their services will typically be in greater demand in December, January and March than in June, August and September, and they must prepare accordingly. For example, if a newspaper picks one month to run public service announcements telling their readers about the obituary services they provide, they probably want that month to be sometime in late fall or winter when deaths are on their seasonal rise, so people will hear their message in advance of most needing to avail themselves of their services."

FMI: Click here.

Quote of the day

"Every morning I wake up and read the obituaries. And if I'm not in 'em, I have breakfast."
--Carl Reiner

Dying Words Reach A New Audience

Jeff Schmalz, The New York Times reporter who found his calling in writing about HIV and AIDS, is the subject of a new book and radio documentary titled “Dying Words.” Before Schmalz died in 1993 of complications of the disease, the 39-year-old journalist helped to change how the paper of record viewed gay people.

Between Nov. 15, 2015 and Jan. 10, 2016, the documentary will air on NPR affiliate stations across the U.S. Here is a list of locations and air dates. Or click below to listen to “Dying Words" now.

Attn: Someone Has Died

"It is a cruel thing, this wheel of obituary fortune. You can never be assured that your passage to eternal bliss will get the attention it deserves." --Thomas Vinciguerra

RIP Leonard Neft

Leonard Neft, a former obituary writer for the San Jose Mercury News, was identified this week as the third victim of a wildfire tearing through Northern California. He was 69.

In 1983, Neft told the Mercury News' Sunday magazine that despite tradition, obits shouldn't be reserved for famous people.

"I feel I can do an obit on a housewife who's never done anything," Neft said in the article. "It's a challenge to find out what people did that was interesting in their lives."

FMI: Click here.

Escaping to the death beat

What prompted Steve Miller to become an obituary writer? The September 11th terrorist attacks. In fact, he was in the South Tower working as a Wall Street technologist that day. Here’s his story.

Heather Lende Finds the Good

Two authors, one great interview in Salon.com. Marilyn Johnson, author of The Dead Beat ...etc., interviews Heather Lende about her newest book, Find The Good. Both women are standouts in the obits world. Do yourself a favor and read the interview. Then read the book.

Click here for the interview.

What life is like for the person who writes death notices

In the past 15 years, many newspapers have laid off their obituary writers, transferred these experienced journalists to other beats or pushed them out of the business with early retirement demands and buyouts. Why pay a reporter to write a fair and balanced story about someone's life when the family will pay money -- often a lot of money -- for a death notice?

But did you know that the person in the classified department who's paid to type those profitable ads also faces backlash about the publication's cash flow problems? As Adam Matcho noted in this essay for XOJane:

[My boss] asked if deaths were down this year in Westmoreland County, because revenue is down, and is that maybe something I would want to look into? He wanted me to email him back.

My boss and I, we’ve gone rounds on this before. He understands I am more concerned about not transposing two letters in one of those crazy last names from Polish Hill than how much money the paper makes. He understands people have to die for this department to make money. He understands I do not consider myself a salesperson. I consider myself an aide capable of typing 70 words per minute, a guide for people who are raw; people who react emotionally and hold fiercely to what they have left of the dead.

Click here to read the rest of Matcho's story.

The power of the last word

"Those who write about the dead face a similar conundrum: not only whether but how we should portray them. There seems to be an unspoken code, but it’s vague, nothing more than an urging to tread carefully. The code, if it exists at all, is an acknowledgment that those who write about the dead wield tremendous power—power that is largely uncontested. The dead can’t call up and contradict you; they can offer no alternate story. There is only interpretation and the potential to mangle. The people who write about the dead are playing with the only thing the dead have left—the stories we tell about them." --Laura Smith, The Paris Review

What is your code?