In Tribute

by Ted Tobias

The words of a eulogist capture a moment when the living begin to define the memory of one who has died. A portion of the text is often printed in the newspaper the next day, but it is rarely easily accessible to readers and researchers later when the death is history and not a current event. The insights (and blind spots) of a eulogy are worth remembering for the honor they give to important figures and for the contribution they can make to our understanding of history.