Q&A with an obituary writer

A fascinating Q&A with Bruce Weber, an obituary writer at The New York Times. He addresses issues like handling controversy in obits, writing advance obituaries, what questions are hardest to ask surviving family members, and who gets "the verb." (In The New York Times, only one obit per page receives a verb in the headline. That obit is considered the most important. It's another way to rank people by class and stature even after their lives are over. The Times loves systems of power and influence, especially when they're in charge.) Well worth at least a quick skim.