While pre-prepared obituaries are standard practice, it was a little surreal to see an obituary of Michael Foot by Mervyn Jones (d. 23 February 2010) in the print edition of the Guardian on 4 March 2010, the Tribune’s diary notes. An obituary for Jones, who was Michael Foot’s biographer, had appeared in the Guardian on 25 February. The deaths were so close together, the Tribune says, it had to run its own tributes in the same edition.
Hardly. This happens at least every few weeks in the Guardian and the Independent (which carry signed obits) The Telegraph, and I assume The Times, also frequently carry obits by writers who have died, usually slightly updated, but of course it is less visible, since the pieces aren’t signed in the first place.
Pingback: The dangers of pre-written obituaries « Yours truly, delisha