[Augustine23548]

Many years ago I moved from a small town in Kentucky to the Washington, D.C., area. One of the first culture shocks I encountered was newspaper obituaries. In Washington, obituaries almost always list the precise cause of death – cancer, heart attack, HIV, etc. Yet where I grew up, and now here in South Carolina, there are only four causes of death listed in obituaries: ‘sudden illness’ (e.g., heart attack, stroke), ‘extended illness’ (e.g., cancer), accident or suicide. The exact cause of death is given if it’s especially newsworthy, but otherwise, the deceased’s privacy is respected. The Washington approach seems, from my standpoint, to be an almost crass invasion of that same privacy. Can anyone tell me why they do this in Washington, and if it’s common in any other parts of the country?

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Name : Augustine23548, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 40, City : Columbia, State : SC, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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