James R. Hagerty explains how to preserve your personal history--from crafting a brief obituary for newspapers and websites, to a more thoughtful and detailed mini-memoir for those close to you. Through his personal stories, on-the-job anecdotes, and insights, you will learn what to include, what to leave out, and how to provide historical context, record oral histories and make the most of details, all with candor and wit. Best of all, you'll find...

Obituaries are history as it is happening. Whose time am I living in? Was he a success or a failure, lucky or doomed, older than I am or younger? Did she know how to live? Where else can you celebrate the life of the pharmacist who moonlighted as a spy, the genius behind Sea Monkeys, the school lunch lady who spent her evenings as a ballroom hostess? No wonder so many readers skip the news and the sports and go directly to the obituary page. This...

"A collection of more than two hundred obituaries published in The Economist since the column was introduced in 1995. Editors Keith Colquhoun and Ann Wroe wrote each of the highly acclaimed obituaries for the column. These are remarkable because of the unpredictable selection of subjects, the surprising lives they lead, and the style in which they are written"--Provided by publisher.