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The creator of BlogOfDeath.com was kind enough to free up a few minutes to speak with us. What led to the creation of the Blog of Death? How long have you been maintaining it? I've always had a passion for obituaries. As the overnight editor/producer of The New York Times on the Web, I published the Obits section for nearly five years, and spent more than a year working on the Portraits of Grief, a collection of obits for the victims of the Sept. 11th terror attacks. And when I was the editor of Inscriptions Magazine, I compiled the hugely popular R.I.P. section of writer obits. In June 2003, I noticed a distinct lack of decent obit pages on the Web, and so I decided to create one. Originally, the site was going to be more of a notification service, similar to my Writers We've Lost blog (http://writerobits.livejournal.com). But over time, the stories of the dead seduced me and I found myself wanting to share more and more details about their unique lives. Now, each obituary runs about 400 to 800 words. Since its debut, The Blog of Death has published 1,500+ obituaries and 22,000+ tributes. About how many obituaries per year are typically featured on Blog of Death? Anywhere from 125 to 350. It really just depends on how busy the news cycle is at my day job. Until I can afford to hire a staff of obituarists, all of the obits posted on The Blog of Death are penned by me. Each story takes about two to three hours to research, and another hour or two to write/edit. Are there any baseline pre-requisites that must be met in order for you to write about someone's death, or is anyone (anyone interesting, of course) fair game? We publish obituaries about the famous, the infamous and the previously unknown. Anyone who's lived an interesting life -- and has died in the past four weeks -- is fair game. Some of the deaths you write about cover some fairly obscure people. What sources do you use to become aware of these people's passing? We search for people on newspaper sites, social networks and in funeral notices published on the Web. We also take reader submissions. Due to the nature of my full-time job at The Associated Press, however, I must postpone the publication of breaking news obits for at least 48 hours. This is to avoid any conflict of interest problems. No entry on Anna Nicole Smith. What's up with that? Every media outlet in the world covered Ms. Smith's death. In my opinion, her demise was covered to the point of excess. I didn't think there was anything a Blog of Death obit could add that wasn't already public knowledge. Does the Blog of Death receive any negative publicity? Do you receive emails that speak critically of the site's theme? A few people have mentioned our "morbid nature" on their blogs or in news articles. The site also received a "Freakist Blogger" nomination for the Bloggers Choice Awards, along with nominations for Best Blog of All Time, Best Pop Culture Blog and The Blogitizer (an award presented to the blogger who demonstrates the best writing ability on his or her blog). But for the most part, the site is well received by anyone who's taken two minutes to peruse its contents. Although death is mentioned in every entry, the majority of each obit's content celebrates people's lives. When you refresh Blog of Death's main page, a new quote appears at the top. How many refreshes until we've read them all? My Webmonkey, John Rodgers, created the database (affectionately known as the Quotinator) and I've filled it with dozens of death-related quotes. I'm also constantly adding new ones. So, in essence, readers can visit the site every day for a month and see a new quote at the top without running into a repeat. Do people ever contact you about a friend or family member that was featured in the Blog of Death? I do receive a great deal e-mail from people complimenting the site and thanking me for writing about their favorite star/musician/author/family/friend. Sometimes, years after a person's death, a family member will Google the deceased's name and find our site. They're thrilled to know their loved one hasn't been forgotten. They also enjoy having the opportunity to post a memory or read other peoples' tributes. Some obits even develop entire communities around the tributes section. Examples include: * Indian Larry, a custom motorcycle builder with over 3,800 tributes under his obit. Every time the Discovery Channel airs one of his "Biker Build-Off" episodes, hundreds of people visit this site to read his obit. * Carol Bundy was an accomplice of the "Sunset Strip Slayer." Several of their victims use the tributes page to discuss the pain they suffered and describe their healing process. * Doris Lund, a best-selling author who wrote about her son's battle with leukemia. That story touched thousands of lives, as is evident by the posted tributes. You'll also see comments from her family, updating on what's happening now. The photo of Lund came from her grandson. Are the obituaries in Blog of Death syndicated? Blog of Death obits are available via RSS feeds and on Lexis/Nexis.
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