The dead beat : lost souls, lucky stiffs, and the perverse pleasures of obituaries

Reading non-fiction is like a treasure hunt - books refer to other books which, when read, refer to even more titles to follow up on. In no time at all, you're in another subject area completely, and not entirely sure how you got there. I can't tell you how I ended up with The dead beat in my hands, but it has sent me in pursuit of two poetry books and a volume on newspaper history.

Author, Marilyn Johnson is an obituary reader. Let me clarify that. Johnson reads, collects, discusses, critiques, and writes about obituaries from newspapers published around the world, every day, for several hours each day. That's not a hobby - it's an obsession (which she freely admits). While traveling in London, Johnson was more interested in reading paper copies of her favourite British newspapers (usually read on-line), than she was in touring castles or seeing other sights. She attends an annual obituarists conference and participates in obituary newsgroups online. Marilyn Johnson is truly immersed in the world of obituaries.

In The dead beat, I expected a collection of strange tales from a rather morbid world but, while the strange tales are there in profusion, morbidity is not. Obituarists consistently describe their work as uplifting, refreshing, hopeful, regenerative, and purposeful. They see their jobs as avenues to help families through the grieving process, and build people up rather than tearing them down, which is what most of the rest of the newspaper world does. While the death of a person triggers the writing of an obituary, the focus in the writing is on the life, not on the death.

Librarians are often described as inveterate collectors of arcane knowledge but I now think obituarists could give them a run for their money. All kinds of people die and all kinds of information must be collected to write about them. The challenge then is to distill those facts into a brief portrait of a (formerly) living breathing person.

Generously interspersed with obituary excerpts, this book is an interesting look at a hobby I didn't even know existed and a career few aspire to. I'm not about to join them, but the book is a worthwhile and entertaining read.

The dead beat : lost souls, lucky stiffs, and the perverse pleasures of obituaries by Marilyn Johnson. Published in 2006 by HarperCollins. ISBN: 978-0-06-075875-2