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NewsCut

MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

Tag: The art of the obituary

Health

In the darkness of a suicide, cyclists light a way

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 7, 2016, 10:18 AM Jan 7, 2016
0

I don’t know if you can see the video of what happened around Keller Park last night, Facebook settings being what they are and all, but it was a pretty astounding statement that a man who took his own life last fall mattered, and his loss is a loss for us all. Read more →

Arts & Culture

Weiland’s ex blasts ‘glorification’ of his death

Bob CollinsBob Collins December 7, 2015, 10:32 PM Dec 7, 2015
28

A blistering essay from the ex-wife of Scott Weiland on Monday was aimed straight at the heart of the music culture, music critics and fans who celebrate their drugged and inebriated heroes.
Read more →

Health

The art of the obit: The man with Alzheimer’s

Bob CollinsBob Collins December 2, 2015, 9:32 AM Dec 2, 2015
2

Today’s obit section reveals another poignant piece of writing. This time, unlike some of the other obituaries we’ve highlighted over the years, the compelling part is just a single line at the end of an obituary for a gentleman who died of Alzheimer’s.
Read more →

Arts & Culture

The art of the obituary: the grave digger

Bob CollinsBob Collins October 7, 2015, 1:05 PM Oct 7, 2015
2

Thomas D. Donnelly, of Geneva, Minn., died on Tuesday. But he was known by a different name — ‘Digger’. He dug graves. He was also Tom Tom the Leprechaun, the mascot of the Minnesota RollerGirls. Read more →

Arts & Culture

Daughter ‘stole’ obituary for 104-year-old

Bob CollinsBob Collins August 12, 2015, 12:30 PM Aug 12, 2015
9

If the obituary scandal out of Richmond isn’t a sign of the times, I really don’t know what is. Read more →

Arts & Culture

Obit advice: ‘Follow your arrow’

Bob CollinsBob Collins August 12, 2015, 7:00 AM Aug 12, 2015
6

We must be getting somewhere in our continuing focus on obituaries that reveal a truer life than who someone worked for because multiple people have sent me Dorothy McElhaney’s final tribute today. Read more →

Health

The art of the obituary: The addict

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 31, 2015, 8:15 AM Jul 31, 2015
3

The family of Coleen Sheran Singer didn’t hold back when it came to her obituary, which appears this week in the Bangor (Maine) Daily News.

She died on Christmas morning; it’s not clear why her obituary didn’t appear until this week. Read more →

Health

The art of the obit: Mary Stocks

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 23, 2015, 2:31 PM Jul 23, 2015
4

‘She liked four letter words as much as she loved her rock garden and trust us she LOVED to weed that garden with us as her helpers, when child labour was legal or so we were told. ‘ Read more →

Two-word obit eased the pain of loss

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 8, 2015, 6:43 AM Jul 8, 2015
1

We suppose there are worse ways to mourn than with a generous dose of laughter.
Read more →

Arts & Culture

Fargo man pens two-word obituary

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 1, 2015, 7:14 AM Jul 1, 2015
8

Douglas Legler’s obituary in today’s Fargo Forum is shorter than his name, the paper notes.
Read more →

The art of the obituary: Mary Dodd Stalling

Bob CollinsBob Collins June 4, 2015, 3:16 PM Jun 4, 2015
2

The Austin American Statesman reminds us that a life well lived can consist of running from a subpoena, a schoolteacher named Fancy, and integrating the record store business in a Texas town. Mary Dodd Stalling, 91, died peacefully on May 30, 2015. Born November 21, 1923, she was adopted into the Dodd family and raised Read more →

Health

In obituary, a family confronts a son’s drug habit

Bob CollinsBob Collins May 22, 2015, 2:10 PM May 22, 2015
0

We have limitless admiration today for the family of Clay Shephard, whose obituary in the Raleigh News and Observer this week was an honest assessment of his death. He died from a drug overdose.
Read more →

A father fights heroin with his daughter’s obituary

Bob CollinsBob Collins April 23, 2015, 6:51 AM Apr 23, 2015
3

Molly Park’s family was in a terrible position when they wrote words to live by for the rest of us. They had to write the Maine 24-year-old’s obituary and decide just how honest they had to be about her life. She was addicted to heroin. Read more →

Politics

The latest political battleground: an obituary

Bob CollinsBob Collins April 20, 2015, 10:07 AM Apr 20, 2015
6

Given the climate in this country, it might not be a bad idea to keep politics out of an obituary. Read more →

Arts & Culture

Amid sorrow of child’s loss, a vow to tell life stories

Bob CollinsBob Collins April 6, 2015, 10:54 AM Apr 6, 2015
6

Stuart Schumacher finds something new every time he reads a recent obituary for a 4-year-old boy. The boy’s name was Evan, and Schumacher wrote the obituary in the hours after he lost his son. Read more →

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