I do have a couple of suggestions. One isn't a collection of obits as such, but is a book about obituary writers and the way they try to craft a life out of death notices. It takes a special sort of person to do that-- at least to do it well. It's out in paperback now:
The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson
For collections of obits themselves, try
A Wonderful Life: 50 Eulogies to Lift the Spirit by Cyrus Copeland
or Remembrances and Celebrations: A Book of Eulogies, Elegies, Letters, and Epitaphs by Jill Werman Harris
There was a wonderful self-written obituary that ran not long ago; I would have liked to have known this man.
It caused something of a sensation when published, as many people were outraged, but it was explained the deceased had written the obit himself some years before.
[ Originally published on: Monday, November 27, 2006 ]
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - With trumpets blaring, Zeus, god of gods, called Daniel Reed Porter III to His Heavenly Pantheon on Nov. 21, 2006.
He (Porter, not Zeus) was the second White child born in the new
maternity ward of Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton on his
father's birthday July 2, 1930. His mother Eleanor (Parsons) needed all the help she could get.
Porter was reared on a small farm with his siblings in Worthington.
Sickly as a child, his parents often contemplated drowning him in
Watt's Brook that flowed (trickled in summer) behind the house into
which (the brook, not the house) they deposited other trash, sewage and cow manure.
After being partially educated in local schools, Porter matriculated in
the class of 1952 at UMass, formerly Mass Aggie. Here he failed to
distinguish himself in any meaningful way, and managed to alienate a
number of his classmates and professors. Upon graduation without
honors, Porter was drafted into the Army and served in Korea before and
after the armistice. There he learned more than at college - never
volunteer, be cowardly to survive, don't circulate petitions and keep
away from indigenous females.
Returning home ill-prepared for an occupation, he was strangely
accepted by the University of Michigan Graduate School where he tried
to prepare for an acceptable if not respectable occupation.
A 35-year career as a museum and historical agency administrator and
museum director followed. He moved from state to state five times to
keep ahead of his reputation. He completed his career ignominiously in
Cooperstown in 1992. On his demise, he was a member of no organization,
club or charity.
Porter was not survived by his parents and sister, Janice Leroux. But
surviving him are his relict, Joan (Dornfeld); a daughter, Leslie, her
husband, Edward Easton III, and their daughters, Erika, Caitlin, and Allison, of Coudersport (God's Country), Pa.; his son, Andrew, and his wife, Amy (Pens), and their heir, Reed; a brother, Edward, and his wife, Shirley (Smith), on Watt's Brook; a brother-in-law, Al Leroux,
and his Buick sedan of Northampton; and numbers of nieces and nephews.
There will be no final rites or any mumbo-jumbo. He will not lie in
state at the The Farmers' Museum. His cremated remains will be
scattered on Watt's Brook. Memorial gifts will not be accepted and
cards are a waste of money.