CORONADO, CA -- "Concerning death and dying, most people readily admit they would like to do two things -- be late to their own funeral and pen their own obituary," says Joseph Ditler, a Coronado writer and publicist. "I can't help with the former, but I can certainly assist in the latter."

Ditler has been a writer and publicist for 30 years, and offers a variety of PR services to his clientele. His newest challenge, "LivingObituary.com," offers individuals the opportunity to write their own obituary, to document their lives before that inevitable moment, and to do so with a trained writer, editor, and publicist at their side.

The purpose of LivingObituary.com is quite simply to document a person's life before they are gone, says Ditler, who came up with the concept of LivingObituary.com after writing hundreds of obits as a journalist.

"I get called every month to help a friend or family member with an obituary," says Ditler. It suddenly dawned on me that we don't need to wait until the last minute for such an inevitable task.

"Once you're gone, you're gone. Sadly, a sudden death leaves family members to struggle through a sea of emotion and chaos while trying to remember the important aspects of your life -- where you were born, where you went to school, and, if a veteran, what service and unit you served in."

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