Précis is the creation of Katharine Blossom Lowrie, a journalist who came to obit writing by way of her late mother. When Katharine, an award-winning reporter, found her mom's obituary "extraordinarily difficult and painful to write," she wondered what those without her training and experience endured.
Katharine Lowrie

Following publication of her mother's story in the Rancho Santa Fe Review in 1993, Katharine began writing obituaries for friends. All expressed gratitude for being relieved of such a monumental task in the midst of their grief. "With so many final arrangements demanding a family's immediate attention, I recognized the service as not only needed, but valuable," she said. "Mourners long for a worthy tribute to a loved one."

Formerly a staff reporter on three newspapers, Katharine freelanced over the years for publications ranging from the LA Times to LA Magazine. Primarily an entertainment reporter, she was drawn to the exhaustive research and inventive questioning required of in-depth profiles. "It never mattered if the person was famous or not," she said. "The joy came in discovering those definitive quirks and mannerisms, the little nuances that flesh out living, breathing individuals."

Katharine asks much the same from her Précis staff, a group of top writers and journalists dedicated to preserving the dignity and integrity of those they memorialize.