The Unexpected Twists in the History of Newspapers

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Some newspapers don't seem to run obituaries at all. I mean, sadly, even many major papers are scaling back or even eliminating their obit departments in this age of retrenchment. The Times is not permitted to comment on or divulge the contents of any forthcoming news story. So, famous people for reasons of ego perhaps can make an educated guess as to whether we have an obit of them on file,. But they're certainly never going to see it.

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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