Obituary - Definition and Overview

An obituary is a notice of the death of a person, usually published in a newspaper and usually including a short biography.

The obituary usually contains names of the subject's close relatives and possibly time and place of a funeral.

Because of the short time between the notification of a death and the next publication deadline, most newspapers have pre-written obituaries for famous people who are still alive. Updating the "obits" is hum-drum task usually given to junior reporters. However, some newpapers or newspaper affiliates employ entire departments dedicated to the publication of obituaries.

Obituaries are a notable feature of The Economist, which publishes precisely one full-page obituary per week, reflecting on the subject's life and influence on world history. Past subjects have ranged from Ray Charles to Uday Hussein.

While the United States obituaries are almost always reverent and respectful, in Britain it is far more permissible for the writer to attack or mock the subject.

Stories abound of obituaries accidentally published whilst the person concerned was still alive. One of the best known examples was Mark Twain, who responded "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated".

See also

• Lists of people by cause of death
• Recent deaths

External links

• The Smoking Gun: CNN.com Premature obituaries (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/cnnobit1.html)
• Online Obituary Indexes & Death Notices (http://www.deathindexes.com/obituaries.html)

• Obituaries from The Economist (http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/moreArticles.cfm?subjectid=348996)
• Obituaries from Topix.net (http://www.topix.net/news/obits)