Big newspapers keep obits pre-written for people they know they're going to have to write an obit for. It's not difficult, since when someone famous dies you c

Big newspapers keep obits pre-written for people they know they're going to have to write an obit for. It's not difficult, since when someone famous dies you can write about their accomplishments, legacy, and whatnot while they're still alive, and keep a blank spot in the lede about how they died. And it's nice, because you can write a much better article when you have a lot of time. But it can lead to some interesting firedrills when someone dies unexpectedly: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/06/michael_jackson_obit_the_backs.html http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/06/michael_... And sometimes the obituaries are pre-written many years in advance. Which leads to incidents like NYT's obit for Elizabeth Taylor, whose author died several years ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/movies/elizabeth-taylor-obituary.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/movies/elizabeth-taylor-ob...