Obituaries of the Times: an Insider’s Look

Nobody does those obituaries better than The New York Times.

Hands down second to none in the way it can craft the key elements of a life and make the subject come alive, if only ephemerally. Count me among those readers who click on Obituaries everyday as I read my tablet edition of the Times.

I find myself discovering fascinating people only after they are no longer around.

I also find myself totally submerged on a topic and a person for which I have little interest. Take these two, for example:

Carl Schlesinger, 88, Dies; Helped Usher Out Hot Type

Carl Schlesinger, a former typesetter at The New York Times who helped make an award-winning film about one particularly memorable night on the job — July 1, 1978 — the last time the newspaper was made using hot-metal type, died on Nov. 9 in Paramus, N.J. He was 88.

Jane Scott Is Dead at 92; Veteran Rock Music Critic

It was the singular combination of Kleenex, peanut butter, a shower cap and earplugs that let Jane Scott thrive in her chosen field for nearly 40 years.

Ms. Scott, who long before her retirement in 2002 was widely described as the world’s oldest rock critic, never went to a concert without these essentials. Peanut butter gave her strength for a long night ahead. The shower cap, for rain-swept outdoor events, let her keep her preternaturally blond pageboy dry.

I am sure that there are many dull and boring subjects who had their most delightful and lively moments via a New York Times obituary.

Now the Times tells us, via Insider, all about the making of those obituaries. And, indeed, many are prepared while the subjects are still quite alive.

Steve Jobs’ obituary was in the makings since 2007 (he died in 2011).

But it is not always that way. Sometimes, a sudden death, such as that of Sopranos star James Gandolfini at 51 , requires that writers/researchers scramble to produce a solid obit in a short time.

I encourage you to read the New York Times’ Insider piece on the making of their fabulous obituaries.