Mark Steyn's Passing Parade: Obituaries & Appreciations expanded edition

by Mark Steyn

This newly expanded edition of Mark Steyn's Passing Parade looks back to the men and women who, in ways great and small, helped shape the 20th century. The Washington Post called Mark "the world's wittiest obit writer", and many others agree. "Mark Steyn is a more than brilliant writer who can't resist quipping as he appreciates," says WGN's Milt Rosenberg. "He memorializes the recently departed with startling joie de vivre." Robert Fulford, the dean of Canadian cultural critics, praised Mark in The National Post for "writing brilliant obituaries", while The Weekly Standard's Jonathan Last declared that "I'll be surprised if I read a better essay this year than this beautiful, funny, sad Mark Steyn entry on Sid Luft."

So here by special request are Luft, Artie Shaw, Ronald Reagan, the Reverend Canaan Banana, and a gaggle of other towering figures, scurvy lowlifes and all points in between. You'll find Steyn's take on Tupac Shakur, Idi Amin, the Princess of Wales, Bob Hope, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Artie Shaw and Pope John Paul II - plus Scotty from Star Trek, Nixon's secretary and Gershwin's girlfriend. It's the passing parade of our times, from presidents and prime ministers to the guy who invented Cool Whip. As Hugh Hewitt says, "If you have a very good friend, send them Steyn's Passing Parade."

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Mark Steyn is a Canadian author and cultural commentator. He has written numerous books, including the New York Times bestsellers America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It. Steyn has been published by magazines and newspapers around the world, and is a regular guest host of the nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show. He also guest hosts Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News, on which he regularly appears as a guest.

Steyn lives and works mainly in Woodsville, New Hampshire. He is married, and has three children.

Reviews

[Dan Fulghum · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early part of my life, I was a reporter for a West Texas newspaper. A big part of my initial assignments involved writing obituaries. When I saw the Passing Parade on Amazon, I had to have it. I've listened to Mark Steyn for several years and appreciate his commentary dashed with a great deal of humor. Steyn takes the art of obituary writing to a new level. Each piece is humorous and well as informative. He describes the life of prominent actors, dictators, politicians, singers, the social elite and one of great faith. He brings out little-known facts that give more life to the subject of each obit. It is obvious that he has researched his subjects well and the book lends to an enjoyable read.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The past is another country, but the Seventies is another planet.

This collection begins with an obituary for Stuart Hamblen, early Hollywood Heavy and later songwriter, most notably This Ole’ House, and ends with an obituary for Bill Miller, famous for accompanying Sinatra on One For My Baby.

In between are long-forgotten political figures such as John Profumo and The Reverend Canaan Banana; a lot of people in show business, as one might expect from Mark Steyn, from Bob Hope to Cy Coleman; and more famous political figures such as Ronald Reagan and Katherine Graham.

The great thing about journalism is that whatever you do you’re automatically an expert in. So within a month or three of starting in The Atlantic I was getting non-stop offers to do obituaries hither and yon. Most of them wanted advance obits—that’s to say, fellows in the ruddy bloom of late middle-age who might collapse of a massive stroke tomorrow morning or might totter on for another 40 years. Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that, at The Guardian and certain other publications, it’s not uncommon to read obituaries of someone who died last week written by someone who died ten years ago… One of the many disappointing characteristics of The New York Times, for example, is that the obits feel like modular furniture that’s been shuffled around too often.

And to underscore that, his obituary for Pope John Paul II references the NYT obituary which included the boilerplate “NEED SOME QUOTE FROM SUPPORTER”, with the rest of the obituary already written around the non-existent quote.

Even when he’s adding humor in the face of death, he still takes each subject seriously (except for John F. Kennedy Jr., which was not about JFK Jr. but rather about the media blood-frenzy that followed his death); this collection is almost always irreverent but never tedious, and provides details of the deceased’s life that put their life and time in perspective.

The John Paul II obit also includes a good rule of thumb for when the press calls someone or something the first of its kind, always add “since the death of Elvis” to make it more accurate, as that’s about as far back as the memories of journalists go, if we’re lucky.

One of the best is the obit for jazzman Romano Mussolini—while he’s extraordinarily obscure, his father was a lot more famous. And then there’s the time Steyn fed Cool Whip to Martha Stewart, recounted in the obit for William A. Mitchell, the man who invented it.

The obit for James Doohan was also memorable; and Francis Crick.

Most of the obits came from Atlantic Monthly; many of the others are no longer available online, either because the publication itself has died, or because they’ve been through so many reorganizations that old articles are no longer easily available.

[Jennifer Rust · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful!

[Patricia H Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Steyn has the driest sense of humor, which makes some of these Obits pretty funny. The choice of people included in this witty book is most interesting. I highly recommend this book (and most every other book Steyn's written).

[Undine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't think of any better way to go than to have my obit written by Mark Steyn. This is a collection of pieces chronicling the lives of the good, the bad, and the simply weird among us. These essays make up an offbeat, but profound overview of our recent history.

[Karyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steyn at his very best. Not sure of the appropriateness of ROTFL when reading an obituary, but that's just what I did with several in this collection. But anyone (okay, not anyone) can be funny; in addition, Steyn is trenchant, insightful and often surprisingly generous in his evaluations.

[Jeremiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steyn elevates the Obit to something a lot more than most. There is no shortage of the Steyn wit, peppered in with his puns and double (and triple) entendres. He covers a range of people from the inventor of jello to Princes Di, and even the less famous are given the grand treatment.

[Mark Roper · Rating 3 out of 5]

...a good read for any long plane journey.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of obituaries and appreciations that remind me of H.L. Mencken. Mencken without the longueurs.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turns out obituaries can be high art.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great prose.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of Mark Steyn's spoken and written word, I enjoyed the witty prose of this book and continue to be impressed by the breadth and depth of Mr. Steyn's knowledge of history, culture, music, etc. This book is a collection of memorials that Steyn has written for various publications on the passing of noteworthy figures. I had previously heard of some of the individuals and some I learned about for the first time. It seems that Mark has rubbed elbows with many of his subjects and brought an interesting perspective by his personal experience of them. The material is arranged in sections of somewhat topical commonality, but each chapter is standalone and I read the book in a "chapter a day" manner.