The Lonely Death of George Bell
Each year around 50,000 people die in New York, some alone and
unseen. Yet death even in such forlorn form can cause a surprising
amount of activity. Sometimes, along the way, a life’s secrets are revealed.
Long. Detailed. A pilgrimage through the people, processes, and systems that follow a solitary, unmarked death in NYC. Told with a storyteller’s ear for drama and suspense. And, if you are patient, a measured, graceful resolution.
- Read the article, then, at the bottom, notice an interactive icon in the margin indicating a link to display reader comments on the article, and the current number of comments.
- Click on this icon, and discover that NY Times curates the comments into three classes: 1. NYT Picks, 2. Readers’ Picks, and 3. All.
- When I initially finished the article, I was reluctant to go to the comments, having come to anticipate with horror the experience of diminishing returns. I WANT to see how people have reacted… want to passively share their responses… but the character and presentation of social responses to internet discourse varies like telephone call-ins, and I don’t want to diminish my pleasure in the piece.
- I am so grateful that NY Times has chosen to filter and present comments first that will contribute particularly well to the conversation. How much I wish that all social media had such careful, graceful curation.