Lifetuary

With the recent death of Sam Shepard, which I learned about from reading his New York Times obituary, I was reminded that I would certainly like to hear about many notable people before they are dead.
Shouldn’t it be possible for the New York Times and other media to write an article about some of the world’s great personalities before they have died? Is there some requirement that only the news of their deaths counts as a reason to write about their importance to us?
For instance, I really don’t want to wait for say Joan Didion to die before our media wakes up and honors her with a full mention commensurate with her importance as a writer.
Dear New York Times and other media, please give us the opposite of an obituary. I don’t know what to call it. How about lifetuary?
