I'm fairly certain when I die that the obituary will say, 'Author of 'Angels in America' dies.' Unless I'm completely forgotten, and then it won't say anything at all.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I always wondered what hearing one's own obituary might sound like, and I sort of feel like I may have just heard part of it at least.
I don't think most people know what's going to be in their obituary, but I do.
I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary notices I have read with pleasure.
A common defense among obituary-fanciers such as myself is that the obit is not about death at all. It is about life. This is true since an article about the condition of deadness would make for turgid reading at best.
Sometimes a famous subject may even outlive his own obituary writer.
When the 'Guardian' is commissioning writers to write obituary pieces about you and your career... it doesn't get much nastier than that. And you've just got to go, 'It doesn't actually matter.'
When I die there may be a paragraph or two in the newspapers. My name will linger in the British Museum Reading Room catalogue for a space at the head of a long list of books for which no one will ever ask.
All publicity is good, except an obituary notice.
My father always read obituaries to me out loud, not because he was maudlin or morbid, but because they were mini biographies.
An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last installment missing.