What attracted you to eulogies?
Ten years ago, I delivered my dad’s eulogy. I thought it was a very cathartic and connective experience. Kind of like a bridge between the living and the dead.
Which is your favorite?
Several touched me. Neil Simon on Bob Fosse. Madonna on Versace. Adlai Stevenson’s on Eleanor Roosevelt is a paramount example of how to eulogize. It’s personal, poignant, conversational and it’s got a great opening and a great close. It’s also honest.
Is honesty something that you want?
Absolutely. You can smell a snow job coming from a mile away. That’s better than a hatchet job, but honesty is always better.
Is there one line that stands out?
James Woods on Bette Davis: “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy eternity.”
What’s the unlikeliest pairing in your book?
Winona Ryder eulogizing Timothy Leary. Not two figures you would put together. But her dad was good friends with Leary, and he was her godfather.
Did this effort make you consider what you’d like your own eulogy to say? It’s made me think about the necessity of living my own life with greater abandon.
To give your eulogizer better material?
Yes.
