Synopses & Reviews
The obits. Its the first section many of us turn to when we open the paper, not to see who died, but rather to find out about who lived to discover the interesting lives of people whove made a mark.
A new annual that collects nearly 300 of the best of The New York Times obituaries from the previous year, The Obits Annual 2012 is a compelling, addictive-as-salted-peanuts “whos who” of some of the most fascinating people of the twentieth century. Written by top journalists each entry is a jewel, a miniature, nuanced biography filled with the facts we love to read, with the surprise and serendipity of life. Theres David L. Wolper, the producer of Roots—and the story of how he got his start purchasing film footage from Sputnik. The jazz singer, Abbey Lincoln, and her change from glamorous performer—she owned a dress of Marilyn Monroes—to civil rights activist (she burned the Monroe dress). Owsley Stanley, the quirky perfecter of LSD, who blamed a heart attack on the fact that his mother made him eat broccoli as a child. Patricia Neal—known by most as a movie star, but her real life, filled with tragedy, adversity, and incredible professional ups and downs, is almost a surreal play of triumph and tragedy. Arranged chronologically, like the obits themselves, its a deliciously random walk through the recent past, meeting the philosophers, newsmen, spies, publishers, moguls, soul singers, baseball managers, Nobel Prize winners, models, and others whove shaped the world.
Review
“Sometimes the best part of a show is the curtain call, when the job is done and the actors bask in their well-deserved accolades. Here is a wonderful book filled with curtain calls. Count me among those on my feet and applauding like mad.” --Stephen King
Review
“The obituaries are the best part of the The New York Times. They have it all: history, drama, villainy, invention, humor and the astonishing breadth of human possibility.” --Marilyn Johnson, author of The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries.
About the Author
William McDonald has been the obituaries editor at The New York Times since 2006. He started at the Times in 1988 and held numerous editorial positions, including being on the team that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for the series “How Race Is Lived in America.” He lives in New York City.