Ken Fuson, an award-winning features writer for the Baltimore Sun, died on Jan. 3 at the age of 63 after a battle with liver disease. Fuson was able to have the last word in novel fashion: by writing his own obituary, which was packed with funny comments.

“Ken Fuson, born June 23, 1956, died Jan. 3, 2020 in at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, of liver cirrhosis, and is stunned to learn that the world is somehow able to go on without him,” the touching and humorous obit begins. “… Facing a choice between covering a story for the Columbia Daily Tribune or taking his final exams, Ken went for the story. He never claimed to be smart, just committed.”

The obituary ran in the Des Moines Register, where Fuson began working in 1981. It was there that he wrote a celebrated piece, “Ah, What a Day!”, a one-sentence, 400-word story about the weather from 1995.

Fuson later accepted a job at the Sun, for which he gives blunt reasoning in his obituary.

“In 1996, Ken took the principled stand of leaving the Register because The Sun in Baltimore offered him more money,” it reads. “Three years later, having blown most of that money at Pimlico Race Track, he returned to the Register, where he remained until 2008.”

Fuson began working as a freelancer in 2008, and in 2011, he began working at Simpson College in the marketing department.

“He was diagnosed with liver disease at the beginning of 2019, which is pretty ironic given how little he drank,” Fuson explains with trademark wit. “Eat your fruits and vegetables, kids.”

Fuson is survived by two sons, Jesse and Max; a stepson, Jared Reese; his father, Don; brother, Joe; a niece, and two nephews.

“In lieu of flowers, Ken asked that everyone wear black armbands and wail in public during a one-year grieving period,” the obit concludes. “If that doesn't work, how about donating a book to the public libraries in Granger or Indianola?”

Fuson's obituary quickly garnered attention on social media.

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