Kay Powell the obit writer

So, before I had this obit website, I had another hosted on a different platform which I found, let’s be honest, difficult to wrangle so I’ve moved over here to Squarespace.

But in its previous iteration, Famous Last Words featured a post about American obituary writer Kay Powell which I am about to reproduce here although it was from a year or so ago. I’m still in touch with Kay and I’m certain she wouldn’t mind being ‘transferred’ her from one platform to another. Here goes…

It’s people like Kay Powell, recently dubbed “America’s Greatest Obituary Writer”, who have offered me encouragement and support as I’ve navigated this journalism genre. She was the news obituary editor and wrote obits for US newspaper the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for 13 years and wow… has she written about some colourful characters, including a Tuskegee Airman, a lawyer famous for her smoked salmon, a moonshiner and a member of the Ku Klux Clan.

Have a read of this October 2023 profile about her in Mental Floss.

Kay has given me a few ideas on getting the content on this website just right and I am very grateful. I also love her tips in the interview.

Most importantly - the article says - fact-check everything (tick) and cut through the euphemisms, clichés, and half-truths we use to talk about the dead.

“It has to be factual, and it has to be accurate,” says Kay.