In Memoriam

• Mell Lazarus, cartoonist.  (NYTimes obit.)
• Donald W. Duncan, Vietnam anti-war activist and former Green Beret, whose obituary appeared 7 years after his death.  (NYTimes Insider story)

  We decided to pursue the obituary, the seven years notwithstanding. The thinking was, If we would have written about Mr. Duncan immediately after he died — and we would have, had we known — then we should apply the same standard now. His death, in a sense, was still news, and his story still deserved to be told. What’s more, in an odd way, the very obscurity of his death added an unexpected, even poignant, element.