Sam Roberts with Kai Bird: Are They Dead Yet?

Behind The New York Times’ obituary desk, veteran New York reporter Sam Roberts has written the definitive story about the deaths of nearly 1,500 people. It turns out to be one of the most life-affirming jobs in journalism.

"My own departure would not be so bad if only Mr. Roberts could write the obit!" says Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus Kai Bird. But nobody knows better than Roberts that obituaries aren't really about death at all: they usually only mention dying once. With mordant humor and wisdom, Roberts’ new book, Are They Dead Yet?: The Art of the Obit, explores the major questions that arise from the task of producing a record-defining account of a life. How do we decide who deserves an obituary? How does an obituary writer handle embarrassing information, like a crime, affair, or wonky cause of death? What happens when someone’s claim to fame, so important in death, isn't what mattered in life at all?

With wit, wisdom, and hilarious behind-the-scenes intrigue, Roberts examines America’s relationship to death and the surprisingly life-affirming art of covering it for the national paper of record. In a delightfully frank evening of conversation between Roberts and Bird, hear Roberts tell the story of what he’s learned from a long career in death: there's no such thing as an ordinary life.

"I almost died laughing." — Roz Chast

“The sad decline of local newspapers means the near extinction of full-time obituary writers. Sam Roberts, one of the best, does a mordantly wonderful job of dissecting the delicate craft of summing up the dead.” ― Carl Hiaasen