As I noted a month ago, this fall’s Interactive Innovation Project at Medill is an exploration of the state of the American obituary, and the eight graduate students with whom Rich Gordon and I are working are posting regularly on a blog at obitresearch.com. There, I have recently learned
- about John Thadeus Delane, editor of The Times of London from 1841-77, and his role in turning obituaries into a form of literature;
- what happens to your Facebook profile after you die;
- that “disenfranchised grief” is what happens when institutions fail to provide appropriate support for mourners; and
quite a bit more, including obituary practices at newspapers of different sizes. And the class also has linked, each Friday, to a handful of interesting examples of obituaries and online memorials that run the gamut and then keep running.
The class’s final presentation isn’t till Dec. 10, so there is still lots more to learn. Till then, I commend the site to your ongoing interest.