Ely Remembers 'Ordinary People' With Textured Obituaries

Many people are avid readers of obituaries. And, usually, it's the passing of the well-known and famous that attract our attention. But some people are drawn to those small-print columns about about people who were equally loved but not as well-known.

Ordinary people who lived extraordinary, but less widely observed lives.

Writer Elissa Ely is drawn to their stories. She reads between the lines to find out who these mothers and fathers, colleagues and neighbors were.

She wants to tell the stories of people whose passings have gone more or less unnoticed.

So we're beginning a series we’re calling The Remembrance Project — the lives of those among us.

Elissa Ely, writer and Massachusetts state psychiatrist.

WBUR: The Remembrance Project: Rose King