The obituary, Part 2

My previous post highlighted a basic pattern of writing an obituary—one that flows well and is found in most obituary sections of major market dailies. Today, I’d like to highlight the work of feature obit writer Stephen Miller of The Wall Street Journal. His consistent use of feature leads and less formal attention to the traditional outline are unique. Still, he uses the inverted pyramid with a graceful, literary narrative.

FIRST SENTENCE: Summarize the person and who they were and what they accomplished/were known for.

SECOND SENTENCE: [Last name], who died [day or date] at age [age], was [more specific information about the person as described in the lead].

Here are a couple of examples: (you may need to be a subscriber to see some of these)

- http://on.wsj.com/n119BQ

- http://on.wsj.com/n1WIcJ

Once in a while, this pattern also shows up elsewhere: http://news.adventist.org/en/all-news/news/go/2011-07-28/remembrance-hale-84-championed-diversity-in-higher-education/

There is no mention of where they died or their cause of death. Really, it’s not always necessary. Plus, it’s not a shock to hear that an 89-year-old died. The reader can figure it out that it was just their time. Plus, feature obits usually introduce the reader to a person they’ve never heard about—there’s no need to get into the specifics of the death. An obit focuses on their life. Miller’s obits highlight anyone from a humble businessman who became wealthy by manufacturing plumbing pipes to a “famous” butter cow sculptor: http://on.wsj.com/oTbLif.

In 2006, while working for the New York Sun, Miller told the USA Today, "It's never been my interest to do the common man. I like the second-tier inventor. I want to know more about them and tell their stories in amusing ways."

Only if the person dies fairly young does he point out the cause of death—a 64-year-old dies of cancer: http://on.wsj.com/r2Q25t

Sometimes he may delay the date of death and age a paragraph or two: http://on.wsj.com/r6Tm79

Miller generally uses the traditional formula of going back to the beginning of the person’s life roughly half way through the piece (as outlined in my previous post), though he isn’t as thorough about giving their full name, date of birth and exact location. It works well considering his casual, feature style:

-http://on.wsj.com/qRg3dt.
-http://on.wsj.com/nIuSfY