Death did them apart

A few days ago, I was reading this obituary of Harold Pinter. At the end of the article, this caught my eye:

Mel Gussow, a critic and cultural reporter for The Times, died in 2005.

The obit was written by Mel Gussow and Ben Brantley.

Obviously, Gussow had contributed to the obit a long while ago. Though seemingly morbid, keeping an up-to-date obituary of a notable personality even prior to his decease is common newspaper practice. That said, I haven't seen this inversion before.

Max Gussow was a NYT theatre critic, whose own obit can be read here. There's also this nice Washington Post article about the life of an obituary writer.