The Importance of Family Knowledge in Obituaries

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How often is the family or close friends surprised by what's in the obituaries? Divorces, children they didn't know about. Well, remember that we the reporter are starting almost always from an agnostic state. And so for that, of course, we're obliged to rely to an extent with appropriate double checking and backstopping on family knowledge.

The stereotypical obituary is a formulaic recitation of facts — dry, boring, and without craft. But Margalit Fox has shown the genre can produce some of the most memorable and moving stories in journalism. Exploiting its “pure narrative arc,” Fox has penned over 1,200 obituaries, covering well-known and obscure subjects with equal aplomb.

In her conversation with Tyler Cowen, Fox reveals not only the process for writing an obituary, but her thoughts on life, death, storytelling, puzzle-solving, her favorite cellist, and how it came to be that an economist sang opera 86 times at the Met.

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