Journalist Writes Own Obituary: 'I Wish I Had Done More'

Mark Mooney died Friday of prostate cancer at 66
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 6, 2017 2:47 PM CDT
Journalist Publishes Own Obituary for One Last Byline
Reporter and editor Mark Mooney died Friday of prostate cancer--and published his own obituary.   (Twitter)

"If you are reading this, that means that I am no longer here," Mark Mooney writes in the final entry of his blog, Closing in on -30-, which he started in October 2016 after being given two years to live by a doctor. The former reporter and editor for ABC News, CNNMoney, the New York Post, and many others died Friday from prostate cancer at the age of 66. But before he did, he took the opportunity to write his own obituary, which he opens by letting everyone know he's "glad to be done with the damn disease."

Mooney also expressed an unexpected desire for a man looking back on his life: wishing he had worked more. "I wish I had done more work as a news reporter," he writes. "Written better stories. Made more and better contacts. Skipped some of the easier pieces and done more in-depth stories. Spent more time on foreign stories. Been a better editor." He says he loved the job and the people he met doing it, including his wife ("I regret I won’t be there to comfort her as she did me in those final foggy hours"). He got to have an audience and a byline. And with his final blog post, he got both one last time. Mooney's closing message: "In lieu of flowers, donate to a favorite cause. Mine was Doctors Without Borders. Or just buy a round." (More obituary stories.)

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