|
May 12, 2004
Help the Herald write your obituary
By Patricia Miller
Herald Staff Writer
It's something you may want to think about.
If you die unexpectedly, will the people closest to you have the information about your life
that you would want to see in your obituary? They could forget details. Or perhaps they've never known crucial
information.
Their knowledge is partial at best.
Let's face it - you know more about yourself than anyone else in the world.
We've decided to take advantage of your expert knowledge at the Herald. We're inviting
you to send us important information about your life, which we can keep on file.
We don't promise to publish word for word. For one thing, your information is likely to need
updating. We hope your details will stay in our files, unneeded, for a long time.
You can, of course, feel free to update your own information if something important happens.
You can even put in your likely survivors if you want.
Your obituary will still need to meet the Herald's editorial standards so it will be
subject to revision, but we will have the information you think is important.
We'd like to have pictures, too. If they're high in quality and if space permits, we will
publish two pictures with obituaries. One picture might be from your early, active adulthood. You might choose a
picture of yourself horse riding, painting, dancing or hugging your baby. Or reading, if that's what you
enjoy.
The other picture might be from later in life so people who have known you in the last few
years will recognize you easily.
This will help us at the Herald, where our goal is to write a news story on the death
of every person in La Plata County and on the death of everyone who has moved away but has significant ties
here.
If you supply the information yourself, it will be more accurate, more complete and probably
a better read than anyone else could prepare for you.
Feel free to include anecdotes that are fun or idiosyncratic or that will make readers say, "I never knew that!" We need certain information to write a complete, accurate obituary. We need basic facts. This includes your complete first name, middle initial and last name, plus any nickname you like; place of residence; date of birth; and names of your parents, children, sisters and brothers - and grandchildren if you have them. Then we want general biographical information. This includes membership and leadership in voluntary, nonprofit, government, business, religious, athletic, political and professional activities. Include education, military service, jobs, significant accomplishments, and what you do for fun. We encourage you to e-mail your information to us at obituaries@durangoherald.com. E-mailed information is easier for us to process and store. But you may want to fax it to (970) 259-5011, mail it to P.O. Drawer A, 81302, or hand-deliver it to us at 1275 Main Ave. Please don't fax pictures. The quality of a faxed picture is too low for us to use. E-mailed pictures must come through electronically as .jpg files. Mental-health professionals, clergy and advice givers of all sorts are apt to say that exercises in looking back - like this one - will do you no end of good. Are they right? At least you might enjoy the process. | A chance to remember those close to you By Patricia Miller
Herald Staff Writer As soon as you read the obituary of someone you know or love in the Herald, you're almost certain to start remembering incidents that we've missed. They may be incidents only you know about. Would you like to remind Herald readers of what made the person you miss special? Or write about something admirable or moving that this person did? An unsung achievement? An idiosyncrasy? Or something you did together that's always made you laugh? We're starting a column, inspired by one in The Times of London, encouraging readers to flesh out our published obituaries. We're even thinking of calling our column "Lives Remembered," as they do in The Times. (Unless you have a better suggestion for a name.) We're not putting a limit on length, for now, but admirers of William Strunk (co-author of "the little book" The Elements of Style) will remember how he made a bestseller out of admonishments like "Vigorous writing is concise." Also, we won't put a time limit on contributions, at least not at first. But we hope that when you first feel an impulse to send us a note about your friend, you give in to that impulse right away. This column is not restricted to adults. We look forward to hearing from our young readers, too. We'll publish whenever we have a few contributions and space in the paper. E-mailed copy is easiest for us, but we'd rather have your handwritten recollections than go without. And please add your phone number in case we have questions. If you have a picture to share, send that too. We'll run it if we can. If the picture is a print you need returned, please include a self-addressed return envelope. We'll provide the stamp. Send your contribution by e-mail to obituaries@durangoherald.com or by fax to (970) 259-5011. Or mail them to Herald Obituaries, The Durango Herald, P.O. Drawer A, Durango 81302. Or hand-deliver them to the Herald at 1275 Main Ave. |
|
|
