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An Ode To Obituaries And Obituarists

Connecticut Public Radio | By Jonathan McNicol
Published March 16, 2021 at 1:00 PM EDT
the morgue
Green Fuse Films Inc.
'The New York Times' ' morgue file cabinets in the film 'Obit.'

On the one hand, obituaries are an amalgam of a bunch of different kinds of journalism: they're feature stories, they're profile pieces, they cover history, and they're hard news too.

On the other hand, the subject is always... dead.

This hour, a look at the art of obituaries and obituarists.

GUESTS:
  • Kate Cimini - A reporter for The Salinas Californian and CalMatters
  • Vanessa Gould - Produced and directed the documentary Obit.
  • Heather Lende - Obituarist for the Chilkat Valley News in Alaska and the author of Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer
  • Bruce Weber - Retired New York Times obituarist

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired August 24, 2017.
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Jonathan McNicol
Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.
See stories by Jonathan McNicol

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Donate

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