The heartless selling of obituaries...

Death notice: free of charge.

DOE, JOHN B.
Age 77, Podunkville
Died Wednesday, Sept. 1
Funeral Saturday, Sept. 4. Arrangements by Will Bilkem and Howe Funeral Home, Podunkville.



Paid obituary: Supplied by funeral home and family. Should run EXACTLY how the family wants it, down to the last letter, barring anything legally actionable. It's a paid ad. Paid advertisers get what they want.

When my mother died, my father and (mainly) I wrote the obituary. We took it down to the newspaper where my dad had worked in the newsroom for 42 years, with orders it was to run as is. (they had a deal there where employees got free full obits for themselves or immediate family members). They fucked it up.

When my father died, I wrote the obit. I took it down to the newspaper where he had worked in the newsroom for 48 years, with orders it was to run as is. They fucked it up.

 

And, Starman, did you call the editor to complain?

 

They were informed in no uncertain terms we weren't happy. Since it was an "employee freebie," the general response was, "so what."

 

Here it's:
* Death notice: A very brief announcement that a person has died and place and time of funeral arrangements, if any have been made yet.
* Obituary: The details of the persons life, names of relatives, basically a biography. Paid.
The funeral homes write them but we edit for clarity. And they must come from a funeral home. Apparently, this chain once got burned by a man who submitted a fake obituary because he was running some sort of scam.

 

!

Well, my relatives were upset when they were telling me their story. And they were bitching about our $35. I got told no less than 10 times "And the (Podunk Press) was going to charge us!"

Now I wish I could tell them how cheaply they got off.

 

Ours are the exact opposite.

 

How much was the coffin? The burial plot? Suit? Why should the obit be free?

 

Kind of off topic, but with more content being read on-line, I wonder how effective obits are. Wouldn't Facebook be more effective?

Used to be you'd be reading the paper and a name would catch your eye as you glanced from page to page, and you'd think "Oh! She/He died?!" I don't know anyone who goes out of their way to check obits on a news site.

 

News value is debatable, but there's lots of intangibles. People do like to save obits from their dearly departed. Links may come and go, but the printed product is always there. Some also gladly pay for 2-3 columns worth of info, detailing everything from their grade school to family pets. I figure, if they're paying for it, some of that eventually ends up in my pocket, so can it be bad?

 

I totally do. I read the obits in my hometown paper every day.

 

I think it's about the most age determined thing there is. If you're 25, you don't really look at obits. If you're 65, you do every day.

 

Ah, the obit page.
Or, as a retired colleague calls it, the Irish sports page.