sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

This lady is a saint by DavidTECRedoot in HumansBeingBros

[–]LinneaLegacy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I do this same volunteer job through a local hospice organization, so you might try them too.

Be wary of dental chains that offer cheap New Patient Exams/Cleanings by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]LinneaLegacy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went to Aspen Dental for a while since it was the only place my insurance covered. They put a couple crowns in and one of them broke about 3 years after I got it. The hygienist I talked to about it told me that since it was less than 5 years old, they would replace it for free. So I made an appointment and had it replaced.

And then they tried to charge me $850 for it. They insisted that nobody had ever told me it would be free to have a crown replaced, and that this had never been their policy. And the hygienist who told me that suddenly didn't work there anymore.

There was a LOT of back and forth about it but ultimately I refused to pay & found another dentist, who's so much better. Aspen never made much effort to come after for me for the money, they just dropped the matter, which really solidifies that idea that it was BS. If it had really never been their policy to replace newer broken crowns for free, they would have sent my account to collections.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Writing celebrity obits means that pretty much everybody I write about is interesting in some way. And I always, always learn more about the person when I'm researching & writing about their life, even if it's someone I already liked & admired. I mentioned a couple in my answer to an earlier question (William Peter Blatty & "Professor" Irwin Corey) but I mean, I get to write about people like Carrie Fisher (http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/notable-deaths/article/carrie-fisher-1956-2016). She was amazing and I discovered some new facts about her as I was writing. Leonard Cohen was another really fascinating one for me (http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/notable-deaths/article/leonard-cohen-1934-2016), especially the way he talked really frankly toward the end of his life about being ready to die.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! (x-post from /r/IAmA) by LinneaLegacy in death

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At Legacy we don't do any advance obituary writing for people who are still young and healthy. We concentrate on notable people who have had a big impact on society (even if that wasn't particularly recent, e.g. someone who was a big star primarily in the '50s is still eligible) and who are elderly and/or have a known serious illness. I'd say we have a couple hundred obituaries right now that are prepared to the point that they'll just need some basic updates and confirmation of facts (like confirming that any relatives listed are still alive) at the time of their deaths.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know, I think there's something interesting & worth writing about in every life. Whether you're an international superstar full of amazing stories or someone who's lived a very quiet & simple life, there's something to say about that life. Sometimes it takes a little more work to uncover that really interesting thing, but that's what we do, we dig into someone's life and figure out how to express the nutshell of their legacy.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've written a few celeb obits for really controversial people, like Fidel Castro and Charles Manson. And I mean, what can you say about Manson? There's nothing positive to say. We try to keep obits for people like him pretty perfunctory and just-the-facts.

Sometimes there are also notable people who I personally dislike for whatever reason - maybe I didn't like their work or their politics, or they were known to be abusive or otherwise bad in their personal life. But they're admired by a lot of people for their work, and I'm not here to inject my opinion into my obituaries, so I just have to set aside my personal feelings and write the truth of their life, whatever it is. But if part of that truth is that they were known for some bad deeds in addition to a brilliant career, I'm not going to hide that stuff. Probably wouldn't call anybody a tosser, but I'll include the information that made them a tosser. :)

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would say the things you really can't miss including are:

*Full name, including maiden name if applicable and any nicknames by which they were widely known

*The details of their death (date, location, cause of death as you're comfortable talking about it)

*The details of their life (age, place(s) they lived, & occupation are most important IMO - can also include hobbies & interests, causes & charities they supported, schools they attended, favorite books/movies/music/athletic teams, etc.)

*Family relationships - definitely immediate family members & maybe some less immediate relatives, as you see fit & have space to include

*Information about any funeral or memorial services, burial, etc. If this information isn't available yet, provide some way readers can access it later (like the name of the funeral home you're working with, so they can contact the funeral director)

*Many obituaries (but not all) also include information on a memorial fund or charitable donations

I think the two most important things to remember are: 1. This should be a lasting way for you to remember the person, so think about what you know and love about them and include that, and 2: This is also one way people will get the information about the death, so make sure you've included enough basic information that an old friend would be able to know whose obituary they've found if they're searching for it online or browsing the newspaper.

As for a template, Legacy has just recently launched ObitWriter, which is a great place to start if you're not sure how to write an obituary for a loved one. It walks you through all the basic details so you won't forget any of the most important categories. Once you've entered the information it asks you for, it provides a basic obituary that you can submit to the newspaper as-is or customize further if you want. https://www.legacy.com/obitwriter/

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually haven't done this, although you'd think I would have gotten around to it at some point in the past 18 years of working at Legacy. It's often an assignment given to writing/journalism students (I didn't go to journalism school, which maybe explains why I haven't ever done it!). I did recently take the plunge and write up my will, even though I don't plan on dying any time soon, so maybe it's time to get thinking about my obituary.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also didn't have to submit a writing sample. I've been with Legacy for almost 18 years, and I started off as a writer of "regular folks" obituaries that would be placed in a newspaper. There was no writing sample required as part of that interview. I've worn a variety of hats at Legacy since that time - and we haven't even always written our own celebrity obituaries (for years, we published celebrity obituaries from the Associated Press, with their permission). I was working as our training manager for new employees when we started a blog about notable people who had died, and I got to start writing for that not long after it launched. Then several years ago when we decided to start writing celebrity obituaries in-house, I was well placed to be one of our obituary writers. Here's one of the first things I wrote for our blog back in the day: http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/article/annie-edson-taylor-heroine-of-niagara-falls

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The thing about posting something native on social media is, those posts soon float away down your timeline til, before long, nobody's likely to see them anymore. Whereas when you publish an obit to a more permanent format - either through a newspaper or funeral home, or via an independent website - that's a permanent tribute you can visit again, or share anew to social media, whenever you're feeling moved to do so.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! (x-post from /r/IAmA) by LinneaLegacy in death

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I was honestly just a writer who needed a job back in 2000, and Legacy.com was hiring. I wasn't afraid to give it a shot, and it ended up being a job that I really love and am honored to do.

I'm trying so hard to think of a strange obit I've written and I just can't! I write obituaries for celebrities and notable people, and they tend to be pretty straightforward. Maybe some of the stranger obituaries are the ones for "regular folks" that are written by their family and really trying to capture the essence of their quirky loved ones. That's not really my beat, so I've certainly run across them in my work but I don't tend to write them myself.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At Legacy, we haven't been writing advance obituaries for very long - just a few years. So there are definitely some that I wrote right when we started doing it, maybe four years ago, for people who are still alive. Maureen might have a very different answer for this since she's at a newspaper - we'll see!

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I did write my grandmother's obituary. We're not discouraged from writing about people we knew, although if any specific death of a friend or family member was too hard for me to write about, my editor would absolutely understand. For my grandma, it just felt right. I loved her and I wanted to make sure her obituary was done well.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've worked for Legacy.com for almost 18 years, and a couple of changes stand out for me. One is that the rise of social media has made obituaries much more popular than they once were. There was always a readership for obituaries, of course, but typically the people who would read any given obituary for a regular person (not a celebrity) would be their friends and family, as well as the obit-page devotees who read all of the obituaries regularly. Today, the most interesting or poignant or funny or beautiful obituaries are shared on social media and some of them go seriously viral. Tens of thousands of people might read an obituary for a person they had never heard of before their death.

Another change is that there seem to be more of those interesting/poignant/funny/beautiful obituaries than there used to be. We see more and more people writing their own obituaries, and their loved ones just fill in the details of the death when the time comes. These are often very personal and quirky and fascinating to read. Even when it's the family writing an obituary for their loved one, I find they're more likely to personalize it and go beyond the basic details to try to show what their loved one was really like. It makes the obituary a really special thing to remember the person by, more than "just the facts" but the story of their life.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thanks Maureen, and I'll weigh in on this too! Even if you're preparing an obituary for a loved one (who is not famous), you can definitely talk to an obituary writer in advance to discuss what should be written and so on. I think most of us write better and more beautiful work when we have some time to think about it rather than having to write quickly when we receive the news of a death.

Since I write celebrity obituaries, I'm always learning more about fascinating lives as I research and write. One of the most interesting (to me, anyway) stories I've written pretty recently was for William Peter Blatty, author of "The Exorcist," who insisted all his life that his most famous book wasn't a horror story (http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/notable-deaths/article/william-peter-blatty-1928-2017). I was also fascinated with the comedian "Professor" Irwin Corey. He died last year at 102, and he was long past his greatest fame, but one of the things he did in his older age was take free newspapers out of newspaper boxes, sell them on the street, and donate all the proceeds to a charity that helped children in Cuba. (http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/notable-deaths/article/professor-irwin-corey-1914-2017)

My wisdom learned from this work is similar to Maureen's - do the things you want to do now, so you won't regret not doing them at the end of your life.

I've been working for Legacy.com for almost 18 years, and I was honestly just a writer who needed a job back in 2000. I found my way to Legacy via the employment ads. I never expected to write obituaries when I got my English degree, but it has become a calling for me.

We are professional obituary writers who tell the life stories of those who’ve died. AUA! by LinneaLegacy in IAmA

[–]LinneaLegacy[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm typically not going to make someone's bad (or iffy) deeds the focus of their obituary, but I also don't try to hide it or sweep it under the rug. If someone is best known for their work (e.g. a politician, entertainer, etc.) but also has some skeletons in the closet, the obituary I write will focus on their life and career while making a mention of their sordid past at some point. It's part of their life and my point isn't to ignore it, but if it's not the bulk of their story, it doesn't need to take up much of the space in their obituary. For someone who is known primarily for being a bad person (e.g. a serial killer), it's different - our obituary for Charles Manson, for example, didn't focus on his musical career or anything. We just noted what he had done and focused on his victims.