Monday, August 13, 2012

The Art of Writing Obits

This, from the the NY Times has to be one of the best obituary lines of all time:

Helen Gurley Brown, who as the author of “Sex and the Single Girl” shocked early-1960s America with the news that unmarried women not only had sex but also thoroughly enjoyed it — and who as the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine spent the next three decades telling those women precisely how to enjoy it even more — died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 90, though parts of her were considerably younger.
About 30 paragraphs later, is the explanation, for those who hadn't guessed.

Ms. Brown was declared a living landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, a private nonprofit organization, in 1995. Like many landmarks, she had much restoration work done, which she spoke of candidly: a nose job, breast augmentation, face-lifts, eye lifts and injections of silicone and fat into her face to keep wrinkles at bay, among other procedures.

1 comment:

Bob Peterson said...

As you know, Gerry, I have long yearned to make one clever statement like that, but just can't get there.

What a fitting tribute to a great lady.