Every Friday, we feature Michael Schaffer's Grim Reader at Obit-Mag.com. It's an exploration of the "obitosphere" — Michael coined this term to describe the environment created by journalists when famous people die. I think it's brilliant. I also think he is brilliant. My favorite part of the column, week after week, is his closing paragraph. It's either funny or touching or pointed, but always intriguing… Here's this week's:
"From the department of count your blessings: The Independent runs a nice obituary for Col. Bud Mahurin, a U.S. Air Force flyer who was shot down in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of World War II — and then once again during the Korean War. It wasn’t all bad news for Mahurin: The obit also credits him with being the only American to shoot down enemy planes over both oceans during WWII. Still, it’s the tales of his airborne misfortunes that dominate. Mahurin had accumulated 10 kills when he ejected from a damaged plane over France. A farmer took him to the Resistance, which helped him back to England. Superiors there, though, decided that Mahurin’s awareness of the underground movement would mean trouble if ever he wound up in German hands. So they sent him off to the Pacific, where he scored a hit on a Japanese fighter before being shot down again. He made it to safety on a life raft. By Korea, he was flying jets, and notched three kills. But this time, his encounter with ground fire ended in a much grimmer scenario. He was a North Korean POW for 16 months."
Thank's Michael. Oh, by the way, Michael also wrote a book about pets. It's called One Nation Under Dog. If you are an animal lover, or know one who's hard to shop for, buy this book.
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