Corliss Gilchrist, 91; happy to know Trump impeachment looms

Corliss Gilchrist was born May 7, 1925, in Ayrshire, Iowa, one of sixteen children born to James and Arrah Gilchrist. He passed away May 3, 2017, at his home in Altoona, IA. We told him the process to impeach Trump had begun — so that he could rest in peace. (H/T Sally Wisdom)

From 'The New York Times': 'Lights, Camera, Obits!'

Obituaries, by definition, stare fixedly in the rearview mirror. Worse, they begin, as they must, with the bleakest of all possible announcements: Someone has died. Not a juicy premise for a film, one would suppose. Add to that the nature of the enterprise: gathering facts, arranging them, pressing the keyboard with one’s fingertips, cutting a few words and adding a few others. Except for the phone calls, it’s an inward-looking process, at least for the reporters. How do you make drama out of that? [Vanessa] Gould had a few ideas up her sleeve.

'Wall Street Journal' catches up to us, includes several that have appeared here

Regular readers of obituaries know the clichés—the departed were courageous, charitable, devoted to their families. Then there was the death notice for Wayne Brockey, a retired wood-plant manager in Klamath Falls, Ore. The obituary, written by a grandson, opens by alluding to the deceased’s penchant for ordering gadgets and clothing touted by TV pitchmen: “QVC lost a loyal customer on Sept. 28, 2016.”