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Obituaries (NRR)

mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
edited June 2006 in Strut Central
An old high school teacher of mine was removed from life support today after developing complications following surgery. He'll probably pass in the next 24-72 hours and I've volunteered to write his obituary. I know the obit itself is pretty straight-forward but what I'm wondering is - how many newspapers does one post it to? In this case, I can think of at least four:1) The local newspaper.2) The local regional newspaper.3) the local national newspaper. 4) The local newspaper in his hometown (even though he hasn't lived there in decades).Because he retired several years ago, a lot of his former students are no longer necessarily around and we're trying to find ways of getting the word out about his memorial service. I figured I should send his obit to all three of the first papers but I don't know if that kind of redundancy is "appropriate" or not. Anyone have some experience with this?Thanks,Oliver

  Comments

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    An old high school teacher of mine was removed from life support today after developing complications following surgery. He'll probably pass in the next 24-72 hours and I've volunteered to write his obituary. I know the obit itself is pretty straight-forward but what I'm wondering is - how many newspapers does one post it to?

    In this case, I can think of at least four:

    1) The local newspaper.
    2) The local regional newspaper.
    3) the local national newspaper.
    4) The local newspaper in his hometown (even though he hasn't lived there in decades).

    Because he retired several years ago, a lot of his former students are no longer necessarily around and we're trying to find ways of getting the word out about his memorial service. I figured I should send his obit to all three of the first papers but I don't know if that kind of redundancy is "appropriate" or not. Anyone have some experience with this?

    Thanks,

    Oliver

    They charge to print the obit.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    An old high school teacher of mine was removed from life support today after developing complications following surgery. He'll probably pass in the next 24-72 hours and I've volunteered to write his obituary. I know the obit itself is pretty straight-forward but what I'm wondering is - how many newspapers does one post it to?

    In this case, I can think of at least four:

    1) The local newspaper.
    2) The local regional newspaper.
    3) the local national newspaper.
    4) The local newspaper in his hometown (even though he hasn't lived there in decades).

    Because he retired several years ago, a lot of his former students are no longer necessarily around and we're trying to find ways of getting the word out about his memorial service. I figured I should send his obit to all three of the first papers but I don't know if that kind of redundancy is "appropriate" or not. Anyone have some experience with this?

    Thanks,

    Oliver

    I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts


    They charge to print the obit.

    Ergo...if I wanted to print it in a dozen papers, it wouldn't really matter then, so long as we're willing to absorb the cost?
  • canonicalcanonical 2,100 Posts
    ODub,

    Out of curiosity, do you expect many of his ex-students to be randomly reading the obituaries? Personally, I never look at them (somewhat depressing). I never thought they were used to advertise funerals, always thought they were just paying homage to the passing.

    Anyway, sorry about your loss.
  • lucerolucero 425 Posts
    as people get older they tend to keep a close eye on death notices & so on .. I often read obituaries, especially in major papers / publications - contrary to being depressing they can often be inspiring in that many before us faced times and circumstances which were much more challenging than those faced by ourselves, or have made significant acheivements in their life, and these are highlighted therein.


    Odub - your coverage seems pretty good, you might want to PDF your obit to facilitate email forwarding, alumni webpage postings and the like
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    ODub,

    Out of curiosity, do you expect many of his ex-students to be randomly reading the obituaries? Personally, I never look at them (somewhat depressing). I never thought they were used to advertise funerals, always thought they were just paying homage to the passing.

    Anyway, sorry about your loss.

    Actually, I think death notices are one way people learn about people who they once knew, passed away. I mean, myspace is probably a lot more effective for the younger generation these days but older folks (i.e. 30 and up) who still read the paper may notice something.

    It's worth noting here too: my teacher taught for at least 40 years...so he has a TON of former students, many of whom probably still live in the L.A. area (where I grew up). That's why I was asking about blanketing the area to "get the word out" as much as possible.
  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,391 Posts
    ODub,

    Out of curiosity, do you expect many of his ex-students to be randomly reading the obituaries? Personally, I never look at them (somewhat depressing). I never thought they were used to advertise funerals, always thought they were just paying homage to the passing.

    Anyway, sorry about your loss.

    Actually, I think death notices are one way people learn about people who they once knew, passed away. I mean, myspace is probably a lot more effective for the younger generation these days but older folks (i.e. 30 and up) who still read the paper may notice something.

    It's worth noting here too: my teacher taught for at least 40 years...so he has a TON of former students, many of whom probably still live in the L.A. area (where I grew up). That's why I was asking about blanketing the area to "get the word out" as much as possible.

    Good on you for taking the job on. I always read the obits and have written a few over the years. They're not depressing, they're usually life affirming - you can read about incredible people and amazing lives. You have to do something noteworthy to get a decent obit.

    Not sure whether you're talking about a few hundred words or just a 70 word small death notice, but if it is a full piece send it out to all those papers and include a note telling them why it's relevant to them. Can take a while for it to appear if it gets accepted - a few weeks even. For the memorial servicetake out some classified ads.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts

    Good on you for taking the job on. I always read the obits and have written a few over the years. They're not depressing, they're usually life affirming - you can read about incredible people and amazing lives. You have to do something noteworthy to get a decent obit.

    Not sure whether you're talking about a few hundred words or just a 70 word small death notice, but if it is a full piece send it out to all those papers and include a note telling them why it's relevant to them. Can take a while for it to appear if it gets accepted - a few weeks even. For the memorial servicetake out some classified ads.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I don't read the obits but, there are enough people who do that if someone I knew shows up someone I know will tell me. So yeah, obits get the word out.
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