How to Determine Who Gets Into an Exclusive Club

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The New York Times' obituary section is one of the world's most exclusive clubs. Each year, about two and a half million Americans pass away. The editors agonize every day over the volume of submissions we get from families. There is no one cookie cutter model for who gets in and who gets out; there are so many different mives.

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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