THIS article was in Eastman's on-line newsletter... I thought it might be of interest to readers of the Kos. Co. page. Marjorie Priser [email protected] - The Death of the Free Obituary The April 1999 edition of the American Journalism Review carries a sobering article that describes the loss of a source of information for future genealogists. Columnist Judith Sheppard writes about Nathaniel Blumberg, publisher of the Treasure State Review in Montana. Blumberg mourns the fact that big-chain publishing firms have taken over most daily newspapers and that they now charge for publishing obituaries. Blumberg calls these companies ghouls - "evil spirits that feed on the dead". Author Sheppard then goes on to quote a number of other journalists with similar opinions. Apparently the costs of publishing have encouraged papers to seek new sources of revenue. Obituaries were often a newspaper's doff of the hat to a departed subscriber. Now, says Sheppard, they are more like a classified ad. While they genealogical impact is not mentioned in the article, the idea of charging for an obituary will probably discourage many lower-income people from publishing this information of value to future genealogists. The full article is available at: http://ajr.newslink.org/ajrobitapr99.html. My thanks to Jerry Reed for telling me about this article.