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Much Ado About Publishing

The Joy of Obits

by Nina L. Diamond

Boy, I love a great obituary.

Like the one that began with this:

"As Betty would put it, her 'product expiration date went past due.'"

Though Betty Cousins died on October 27, 2010, this was the fabulous first line in her paid, classified section obituary in The Miami Herald on May 29, 2011, just two days before what would have been her 91st birthday. My friend, Erica, a Miami journalist and editor who shares my appreciation of obituaries, alerted me to this gem.

Neither of us had known Betty. But after reading this, we both wish we had.

I'm glad that the family member or friend who wrote Betty's obit made sure that it reflected the witty Betty they knew and loved.

Most people aren't going to write published memoirs, articles, columns, essays, or even blogs, or be the subject of someone else's published writings. Most people's life stories aren't told until a few highlights appear in their obituaries.

And that's probably one of the biggest reasons people write memoirs. They want to be heard, they want to tell their stories, and they want to be alive while people are reading them.

Obituaries are mini-biographies. Or, they're mini-memoirs if those who've passed on wrote their own obits before they left.

Great obits about strangers either make us sad because we missed knowing someone terrific, or happy because we missed knowing such a schmuck.

Either way, we're moved.



I know a lot of terrific dead people. Too many, really. I didn't expect to know this many until my 70s or 80s, which are still a long way down the road. We often forget that death can strike at any age. That youth and middle age don't prevent it, and old age doesn't guarantee it. Well, up to a point, of course.

So, I've written plenty of obituaries and eulogies for colleagues, friends, and even my cat: Pretty serious business even when they're funny.

It isn't easy, and you'll have a good cry while you're doing it, but it's an honor, and it's one of the most important gifts you can give your human and animal friends and family: The gift of telling their life stories while revealing their personalities so that others wish they'd known them, too.

Or, are happy they hadn't?

Well, if you find yourself with the challenge of writing the obituary of someone not-so-dear who has departed...you have my condolences.


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As a journalist, columnist, essayist, and media critic, Nina L. Diamond's work has appeared in many publications, including Omni magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and The Miami Herald.

She was a regular contributor to a number of "late, great" national, regional, and newspaper Sunday magazines, including Omni; the award-winning South Florida magazine; and Sunshine, the Ft. Lauderdale (now South Florida) Sun-Sentinel's Sunday magazine.

She covers the arts and sciences; the media, publishing, and current affairs; and writes feature articles, interviews, commentary, humor/satire/parody, essays, and reviews.

Ms. Diamond is also the author of Voices of Truth: Conversations with Scientists, Thinkers & Healers (Lotus Press) and the unfortunately titled Purify Your Body (Three Rivers Press/Crown/Random House) , a book of natural health reporting which has been a selection of The Book-of-the-Month Club's One Spirit Book Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club.

For its entire run from 1984-1998, she was a writer and performer on Pandemonium, the National Public Radio (NPR) satirical humor program, which aired on WLRN-FM in Miami.

She has appeared on Oprah, discussing the publishing industry, but, in a case of very bad timing, that appearance was two years before her first book was published.

She has written her Much Ado About Publishing column for Independent Publisher since 2003.

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Follow Nina on Twitter:
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Read some of Nina's previous Much Ado About Publishing columns:

Wishful Thinking

Apocalypse Fatigue

When Only the Story Survives

Authors Uncovered

Choosing Crazy

The Nice Guy Behind Evil Wylie: A Conversation with Andrew Shaffer

De-Witched, Authored & Remaindered

Moron Press: The Finest in Dreck Lit

Playing 20 Questions with Evil Wylie

When LOL Meets PPF

Sunday in the Park with Scarlett, Seuss, Webster, Zhivago & Salinger

There's No Such Thing As a Quick Remote

Thanks for the Genes

From Blog to Eternity

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