Tampa Book Buzz

great opening lines:the dead beat by marilyn johnson

People have been slipping out of this world in occupational clusters, I’ve noticed, for years.  Four journalists passed their deadline one day, and their obits filled a whole corner of the paper.  What news sent them over the edge?  How often do you see two great old actresses take their bows, or two major-league strike out together?  Often enough to spook.  Some days sculptors are called, some days pioneer cartoonists.  A New York Times editor threw up his hands on June 13, 2004, and ran two almost perfectly parallel stories under one headline: WINNERS OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR FROM TWO ERAS DIE; BOTH MEN SAVED FELLOW MARINES.

      —-The Dead Beat:Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasure of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson