June 10, 2004

Reagan's Dead and he'll be deader

Some of best obituary writers in the world were gathered in New Mexico last weekend for the Sixth Annual Great Obituary Writers International Conference. Here's a first hand account of what happened when they heard the news that President Reagan had died.

via Buzzmachine's "Six column inches under"
(This links to the original article in the UK's Media Guardia but a cumbersome registration process is required).

    In the closing minutes of the 6th Great Obituary Writers' International Conference (their title), one of the events that obituarists hate the most burst in on them. Just as Tim Bullamore, a Bath city councillor who writes for Fleet Street newspapers and the British Medical Journal, began an elaborate slide show on the glories of his city, where the conference takes place next year, someone rushed in and shouted: "Reagan's died!"

    Gasps of astonishment, cries of surprise, uproar and confusion. Several delegates sprinted to the hotel lobby's public call boxes or grabbed cellphones. The bringer of the news was surrounded and peppered with questions. Bullamore's presentation was ruined. Finally, he grabbed the microphone and bellowed: "Reagan's dead and he'll be deader. Let's go on with the show."

    He resumed his slides, but it wasn't the same. The 40th president of the United States, Ronald Wilson Reagan, had died inconveniently and thrust obituarists into disarray. But really, they loved it. One delegate, her eyes sparkling, gushed: "Isn't this just wild?"

Posted by Jill Fallon at June 10, 2004 9:46 AM | Permalink