eMJA: No obituary in "Death and Dying" issue

Letters

No obituary in "Death and Dying" issue

Paul B Harris

MJA 2002; 176 (3): 196

To the Editor: A whole issue of the Journal devoted to Death and Dying [19 November 2001 issue] and not a single obituary!

Fremantle Radiology, Fremantle, WA.

Paul B Harris, MB BS FRACR, Radiologist.

Correspondence: Dr Paul B Harris, Fremantle Radiology, 201 High Street, Fremantle, WA 6160. paulradATiinet.net.au

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In reply: No obituaries in Death and Dying issue

Martin B Van Der Weyden

MJA 18 February 2002 176 (3: 196

In reply: I am reminded of a line from the American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson:

"I shall have more to say when I am dead."

Nowadays, the opportunity to be the voice commemorating the life of a colleague through an obituary in the Journal seems to be of low priority for members of Australia's medical profession. The decade 1991–2000 saw the lowest number of obituaries published by the Journal in the five decades since 1951.1 We did not include an obituary in the "Death and Dying" issue because, fortunately or unfortunately, the obituary tray was empty.

Haneman B. On the writing and reading of obituaries. Med J Aust 2001; 174: 59-60. <PubMed>

Australasian Medical Publishing Company, North Sydney, NSW.

Martin B Van Der Weyden, Editor, Medical Journal of Australia.

Correspondence: Dr Martin B Van Der Weyden, Australasian Medical Publishing Company, Locked Bag 3030, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012.

The Medical Journal of Australia eMJA