Obituaries and the art of telling the story of a life

Most of the obituaries published in our newspapers and tributes appearing in funeral programmes are unimaginative, repetitive and, frankly, poorly written. [Prof Egara Kabaji]

Let me make yet another confession today. I am an avid reader of obituaries in the media. I also pay close attention to tributes in funeral programmes. I read them with considerable interest. This fascination is not morbid. I am not a witch. I am just interested in how we tell stories about people who have departed this world.

I have read dozens of obituaries and tributes this year, and I can tell you one thing: we have a serious problem with obituary writing in this country.