Friday, January 27, 2012

Send yourself off in style

   For years, I’ve read the obituaries in local newspapers all over the country. Having been a newspaper writer myself, I’ve often wondered: Why aren’t obituaries more interesting? Why are they preoccupied with details concerning those left behind?

   Death is often the only occasion when one's name is printed in the paper. Why, then, should the departed one not be given his or her due?

   As I’ve learned in writing about the living: Everyone’s life is a story. The dead should be honored, just for having lived. Creating a compelling obituary – telling one’s story concisely but elegantly – is an act of justice.

It's your life--why not have the last word? Write your own obituary--before it's too late!

Give people something to remember you by--the story of your life in your own words. Or you can pay me to use my own deathless ones. (Email me at paulerland@gmail.com.)

Here's an example:  http://www.amazon.com/Frances-Elise-Curtis-Miller-Erland/dp/1466497211/