Tribute

How do we honour someone who has passed on?

What words do we use and how do we present them?

Is it an obituary; see www.obits.com.au , the way to do it or do we need something better?

A Tribute is exactly that. It’s a way of honouring a person be they alive or dead. To highlight the achievements in their lives and to draw attention to things which might otherwise go unnoticed.

There are several ways to formulate, compose, build or project a tribute.

A statue of a famous person is a tribute, as is a newspaper article extolling the virtues of a person's achievements. A movie or documentary is also a common way to achieve this goal.

If a tribute is going to take the written form then certain guidelines must be applied.

Firstly, leave out the bad stuff. Secondly, highlight the good stuff and thirdly, use lots of adjectives. (See Australian Funeral Notices, Death Notices and Obituaries)

Words are the most powerful medium of all and one must chose words very carefully in order to project the mood and feeling of an article. Positive and encouraging words should be used as often as possible in a tribute and if that requires a bit of “license” then so be it.

There is no room for brutal honesty in certain tributes. One must, however, not cross the line over to blatant lying to make a point of view.

History is the biggest archive of people stories and the variation on certain events and lives is as expansive as the universe itself.

Document and verify your facts so that if challenged you may go to your source and present your research.

When quoting people’s opinions or recollections make sure you acknowledge the quote and as much as possible avoid third party hearsay.

The rest is up to you.

Leave a written tribute at obits.com.au