The Bell Tolls

Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a steady stream of well-known people dying lately? It seems to have begun with Gregory Peck and David Brinkley and continues daily. Leon Uris. Strom Thurmond. Katharine Hepburn. Today it's Buddy Hackett and--probably not noted much outside the New England area--Robert McCloskey (of Make Way for Ducklings fame; that book, by the way, was declared the official children's book of the State of Massachusetts last year. How many of our tax dollars went into making that happen, I wonder?). I find it intriguing how the New York Times (registration required to see the site) allots coverage as if they are trying to measure a person's worth in terms of column inches. Hepburn and Peck both got front page treatment with pics (I'm referring to the online edition), although Peck only had a link to his obit, whereas Hepburn had a link to her obit, stories about her, and reviews of her film. Leon Uris got below the fold coverage. Buddy Hackett isn't apparently worthy of front page coverage--not even a text link under Arts. McCloskey gets a front page text link and blurb at the Boston Globe.

But what is even more morbidly compelling is that the New York Times has listed in its obituaries section a "greatest hits" of death. Along the right-hand column are selections from the obit archives, people who have died in the month of July. I wonder how they determine who is truly famous enough to make it there. Does that signify some sort of life-after-death success that ranks beyond just the everyday front-page coverage? I mean how famous do you have to be to make the "best of"? Selections from July include: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Adlai Stevenson, James Steward, and Ernest Hemingway. Maybe that should be a life goal: "I hope to become famous enough that someday I'll make the 'most famous deaths' column in the New York Times online version." Hey, everyone needs a goal, don't they?