The Obits

The obits. It'¬"s the first section many of us turn to when we open the paper, not to see who died, but rather to find out about who lived'¬ ; to discover the interesting lives of people who'¬"ve made a mark. A new annual that collects nearly 300 of the best of The New York Times obituaries from the previous year, The Obits Annual 2012 is a compelling, addictive-as-salted-peanuts '¬Swho'¬"s who'¬ of some of the most fascinating people of the twentieth century. Written by top journalists, each entry is a jewel, a miniature, nuanced biography filled with the facts we love to read, with the surprise and serendipity of life. There'¬"s David L. Wolper, the producer of Roots'¬ ;and the story of how he got his start purchasing film footage from Sputnik. The jazz singer, Abbey Lincoln, and her change from glamorous performer'¬ ;she owned a dress of Marilyn Monroe'¬"s'¬ ;to civil rights activist (she burned the Monroe dress). Owsley Stanley, the quirky perfecter of LSD, who blamed a heart attack on the fact that his mother made him eat broccoli as a child. Patricia Neal'¬ ;known by most as a movie star, but her real life, filled with tragedy, adversity, and incredible professional ups and downs, is almost a surreal play of triumph and tragedy. Arranged chronologically, like the obits themselves, it'¬"s a deliciously random walk through the recent past, meeting the philosophers, newsmen, spies, publishers, moguls, soul singers, baseball managers, Nobel Prize winners, models, and others who'¬"ve shaped the world.