Why? It's common practice to pre-write obituaries for famous people, no matter how healthy they are. And it leads to a better obit that can be richer because of the time invested in it beforehand (the Economist's obits are usually very well done).

It's sad to think about, but with the flood of text being printed I wonder how much of it was pre-written and how much of it was simply pre-thought as those in the circles heard word.