i love obituaries

and no one writes them better than the english broadsheets.
an excerpt of a fine one, i stumbled into:

When I asked him once what he would like in his obituary, he said: "Mr Crisp thanks the world for letting him stay so long." Quentin Crisp (Dennis Pratt), individualist, born December 25, 1908; died November 21, 1999

at its worst an obituary is just a dull old news article, with a splatter of common place facts and figures. at its best, it's a series of amusing and touching anecdotes bringing alive the character of a formerly significant but possibly later forgotten figure. sometimes it's a question of finding something new, or a new way of showing, the achievements of someone far too-well known, of which everything seemingly has already been said. a good obituary takes years to write. to refine. to update. and when the time comes. it's a fitting and unbanal legacy, one hopes.