Speaking for the Dead

The Bar Harbor Times has a good story about the Lawtons, the Seal Cove residents who died last week when their car rolled into the water by the Seal Cove boat landing on Mount Desert Island.
The Times reporter who wrote the story, Laurie Schreiber, interviewed their friends and family about the older couple.
Reporters sometimes are maligned "as ambulance chasers" for knocking on the doors of those who have suddenly lost neighbors or relatives in tragic, high-profile accidents such as the one in Seal Cove. But, as Schreiber's story demonstrates, often people in such situations want to talk, to tell their communities about the people they loved and held dear. Maybe it's therapeutic, or maybe they feel obliged to try to speak for the dead as the public suddenly tries to find out more about them.
Yes, some people in those situations will turn out their lights and lock their doors, wanting nothing to do with the media. But for reporters, often the only way to find out if someone wants to talk or not is to ask them, and that often means knocking on the door of a stranger's house, not knowing how they will be received.
The Bar Harbor Times is to be commended for reaching out to the Lawtons' relatives and friends and for helping the public learn more about the couple than just the facts and questions surrounding their tragic deaths.