In this class, we are writing "feature" obituaries -- i.e., obituaries that go beyond the basic facts of the individual's life, usually because the subject was prominent in his or her field, or in the local circulation area of the newspaper involved.  We write obituaries about living people, just as some larger newspapers do, so that we may incorporate material from person-to-person interviews.  (Large newspapers regularly update obituary files on living people so as to be prepared to run a story in the event of the person's death.)

Feature obituaries include more quotations (from the subject and from others) and more extensive biographies than "ordinary" obituaries.  Nevertheless, the organization of an obituary should be pretty consistent:

• FIRST, report that so-and-so (full name) has died. If possible, give some statement of who this person was: "Former Vice President Spiro Agnew died late last night of an obstructed bile duct." NOTE also the cause of death; this is often not specific, but may be given in such phrases as "died of natural causes," "died after a brief illness," etc.

• SECOND, give a paragraph (or more if the subject's importance warrants it) to briefly summarize the important points of the individual's career.

• THIRD, begin a chronological account. "He was born at Selby on August 13, 1933, at the height of the Depression, to John Norman and Gladys Helen (Wilson), and grew up on the family farm south of town."

• DO NOT LEAVE OUT: facts of birth (date, place, parents); statistical record (marriage, divorce, children, grandchildren); survivors (including parents, spouse, children, brothers and sisters); educational experience and major employers. The basic statistical facts may go into a separate paragraph by themselves (except for survivors, which always come last) or they may be worked into a larger narrative of the life.

• Muriel Humphrey Brown's obituary from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (September 21, 1998)
• George Harrison's obituary from the BBC On-line (November 30, 2001)
• A recent local obituary from the Aberdeen American News (January 17, 2002)

This page last updated on September 9, 1998.