The New York Times obituary writers featured in Vanessa Gould’s documentary Obit. Life on Deadline don’t always tell strangers what they do for a living. It can make some people at cocktail parties assume the writer is dark, brooding and obsessed with death. But as Gould’s film shows, they say death is a secondary part of their job; every day is a lesson on someone’s life. And, they have to learn all they can about that person’s life before deadline. Gould talks to Morning Shift about her interest in making the film and the more fascinating parts of the obit writing business. And, no, she does not have a fascination with death.