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Posts Tagged ‘New York Times’

My likes and dislikes about Mr. Qian’s obituaries

November 7th, 2009 No comments

My favorite obituary of this week was the one about Mr. Qian Xuesen’s death. As one of the most respectable scientists in China and probably in the world, I feel that his death was a great loss to China and human history. Mr. Qian lived a very dramatic life. He was educated in the States, but was also arrested for a reason that has never been proved. Finally, he went back to China and started to dedicate to China’s aviation industry.

I was really sad when I heard of his death and I read almost every obituary in all of the major newspapers.

Among all of them, I like the New York Times one and the Wall Street Journal one more than the others, because I found they provided more interesting detail information about Mr. Qian’s life both in the States and in China.

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Ideology and “not speaking ill of the dead”

October 12th, 2009 1 comment

A recurring theme in the world of obituaries is the usage of an evenhanded tone in content.  For example, you’ll scant see a major media outlet disparage a recently deceased individual, because it’s appropriate, if at least customary, for the dead to be honored, not mocked — not even a little.

Still, it’s easy to see how political ideology could seep into an obituary of, well, anyone involved in politics, any celebrity with a political opinion, or, in the case of Kurt Vonnegut, a figure who represented a galvanized faction of agitated Americans during a time of great social turmoil.

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