Rest, in pieces
21 November 2005. Inspired by death notes.
A little morbidity, of decreasing seriousness:
First off, Final Salute is a moving and well-judged piece of flash journalism about the families of fallen soldiers in Iraq. It's by Jim Sheeler, a fellow I met at the Obit conference earlier this year - someone with an impressive and genuine dedication to his craft. He quietly asks each family if he can spend time with them, leaves at the first time of asking, writes hand-written notes to them saying he understands their decision, gets drunk with the old school buddies, is often asked to stay around for the wake, makes friends wherever he goes, and treats them with sensibility and respect. No mere grief doorstepper, he. And the photographer, Todd Heisler, he went along with is rather good too. Witness:
And, speaking of the conference, my own heavily poetic-licensed report / update on the obit piece I wrote a while back has just appeared in literary/design marvel Zembla (the one with Samantha Morton on the cover).
I just received a copy, and it looks marvellous. Good layout that.
Bonus link: Finding the Frame - photographers at the Spokesman Review show the pictures they didn't use, and talk you through how they try to find the best shot for the day's paper.