I am a student of the obituary. My fellow obituarists and I often urge writers to think of the obituary as a story of life rather than death. However, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to write this volume of obituaries without pointing to the unimaginable moment that stole these lives from us.

Because I am so attuned to the value and importance of the obituary, I cannot help but think of the thousands of obituaries-unwanted, premature, unexpected, and unthinkable-being written as a result of the events of September 11, 2001.

Like the concentric circles that fan out from a stone dropped in a calm lake, these obituaries are rippling out though newspapers in our country and the world. While the points of impact were New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania, the hometowns of the victims stretched from sea to shining sea and beyond.

Not merely a list of accomplishments and survivors, these obituaries must convey the heart and soul of the subjects.

The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe have long enjoyed a reputation for excellence in obituary circles. The stables of journalists who compose the magic words for the rich, famous, eccentric, or ingenious bring honor to the obituary pages of each daily The thousands of deaths resulting from the tragedies have created a unique need for a different kind of remembrance…something between a formal obituary and a death notice. The fact that so many of the victims are listed as "missing" further complicates finality of an obituary. To their credit, these newspapers and a number of others across the country have responded in a variety of meaningful ways. A glance at The New York Times reveals the way in which they have sought to honor each person with a vignette of his or her life. Not the cut and dried formal obituary, these vignettes give us the heart and soul of each person. These thoughtful vignettes serve to humanize each person in a way that makes us wish we had known them…sooner.

In a day and age when news organizations are zealously attentive to issues of cost and space within their publications, the willingness to tell the personal stories of those we have lost is, indeed, commendable. It has been pointed out that at the rate of ten to fifteen profiles a day; it will be at least a year before all are honored.

This volume of obituaries is very different from most. It is not the typical listing of the end of matures lives, with lists of awards and recognitions upon retirement.

The obituary chapter of September 11, 2001 reveals names of many of our best and brightest who came to seek their fortunes in our nation's gleaming alabaster cities. This volume lifts up the innocent young lives of children with their mothers, smart young professionals ascending in their careers, mid-managers, chief executive officers, food service workers, custodians, crusty old pros, accountants, attorneys, merchants, delivery people, media consultants, producers, fire fighters, police, security guards, pilots, flight attendants, international, citizens, American citizens….all ages, all sizes, all races and ethnicities, all religions.

Yet when all is said and done these obituaries reveal each person to be a son, a daughter, a mother, a father, a grandparent, a husband, a wife, a companion, a friend-cherished by someone, somewhere. Whether the obituary is written for one of the unsuspecting victims of September 11 or for one of the perpetrators of terror, the stories of thousands of lives will be told for posterity in this volume of obituaries.