INTRODUCTION

As population actors, our final behavior on this earth is our death. When this demographic event occurs, it will be at least the second time for most of us to have had our name mentioned in the daily newspaper. When we were born, our name was likely listed in the local paper along with the name of our mother and maybe that of our father. Not much else was reported about us when we were born. But when we die, not only will our name be listed (again) but also other information probably provided in a story, an obituary, about our life. Our obituary might include when and where we were born, our surviving family members, and perhaps something about our main occupation while we were alive, our education, and other items of interest.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “obituary” as an “announcement of a death (in a newspaper)…usually comprising a brief biographical sketch of the deceased” (Simpson and Weiner, 2000: X: 640). What other time will a biographical sketch about you be written and published for everyone to read? Perhaps never. Our death is indeed one of the most important events in our life.

Everyone of us has been born and everyone of us will die. This is a certainty. No one escapes death. In fact, all species are born and all species die. But we humans are the only species to actually think about and contemplate the act of dying.