Obits - The way we say goodbye by MaryEllen Gillan (published by Serious Publishing, 7249 Waverley Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5 4A7, Canada (tel 001 604 879 0321; fax 001 604 875 0007). Reviewed by Nicholas Albery.
I am a believer in the idea that anyone, however so-called 'ordinary', is entitled to an obituary, especially now that cyberspace 'immortality', an obituary on the Web, should rapidly descend in price. I therefore welcome this book, Obits, which collects obituaries of 'ordinary' Canadians. They are admittedly a trifle dull, many of them. But it's a start, and I like the way the author encourages people to write more memorable obituaries and to send them in to her.
Perhaps many people need assistance from yet another professional: the obituarist for the masses - out of work novelists, or the officiant or priest who conducted the funeral, earning an extra bob or two on the side.
It may be though, once obituaries start transferring to the Web en masse, that there will be an unleashing of creativity as obituaries go multimedia and free form.
This webpage forms part of the Global Ideas Bank (www.globalideasbank.org).
Book
Orders: To order the Creative Endings book in which this piece
appears or any of the other books that make up the Global Ideas Bank.
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