Over on another board we have been talking about the obituaries of various writers over the last couple of years. For various reasons, we decided that the Times of London was going to be our official obituary source. I think David is right about canned obituaries vs. writing from scratch being a factor in how soon after the death the obituary appears, but there must be other factors, as well.

Just to a few examples of how long it took the obituary to appear.

J.G. Ballard - 1 day (He was known to be ill, though, so they probably had his obituary up to date.)
Arthur C. Clark - 2 days (He probably had a canned one that needed to be updated.)
Philip Jose Farmer - 3 days (His might have been written from scratch, but it is very detailed. It would have had to be somebody who was very knowledgeable.)
Algis Budrys - 1 month (Had to have been written from scratch.)
Jack Williamson - 2 and a half months (Written from scratch and they must have had a hard time finding details. Well, figure London England on one side and Portales New Mexico on the other.)

I would point out that the Times of London considered all of them, even Jack Williamson, worthy of an extended and detailed obituary. I'm willing to bet that Jack Vance will get one too, but I'm not willing to bet that they have a canned one for him already.


Immanuel Kant: sapere aude