Honouring Kofi Annan, John McCain and others: Why eulogies have blind spots

The obituaries that followed Annan's death led to reflect on the legacies he left, and how imperfectly high profile people are remembered after they're gone

As an old adage says: “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. So it should not come as a surprise that prominent people are sometimes remembered selectively when they are dead.

Perspectives have blind spots. We often appreciate or dislike others because of how we relate to them through our spectacles, coloured by the values we treasure. There is a wide zone between fact and fiction. The truth is that the interpretation of others’ legacies often reveals a great deal about us and our values. And is often less about the complexity of the lives of those