Small Business Spotlight: The Précis

Fomer Patch columnist Katharine Blossom Lowrie is the brainchild behind ThePrécis.com, an online obituary service based in Redondo Beach. Lowrie answered five questions from Patch about her business.

Patch: How did The Précis get started?
Katharine Blossom Lowrie: I started ThePrécis.com, an online memorial/obituary writing service, many years ago in Orange County. After moving to Redondo Beach in 2007, I returned to freelance writing as a columnist for Patch, first in Palos Verdes, then in Redondo. I decided to revive (excuse the pun) The Précis earlier this year.

Patch: What's The Précis known for?
Lowrie: The Précis is known for a totally new way of remembering those who have gone before. We write spellbinding profiles that define a life—all the little details that render an individual on the page, the things you want future generations to know about parents, grandparents, relatives or dear friends.

Patch: What's unique about The Précis?
Lowrie: The Précis is one of the only memorial sites that allows for multiple photographs, thus making a story more like a scrapbook than an obituary. Not only are families allowed to tell all the details of an individual’s background and accomplishments, they can relate the silly, funny, delightful things that portray a genuine personality. Each link also allows for comments from those who knew the deceased.

Patch: What's the best part about being located in the South Bay?
Lowrie: As a former Patch contributor, I’ve come to know many of the movers and shakers in the South Bay, people like Redondo Chamber of Commerce CEO Marna Smeltzer, Mayor Steve Aspel, and the canny, gorgeous Pat Dreizler. It is a joy to tell them and others I've interviewed about ThePrécis.com, the ideal place to document the lives of loved ones who have passed on.

Patch: If you could give your customers one piece of advice, what would it be?
Lowrie: Why settle for a standard death notice when The Précis offers an opportunity to have a fully illustrated, beautifully rendered profile? Plus, starting Dec. 5, we will write stories of loved ones, even those who passed away years ago, FREE of charge.

For more information about The Précis, email lowriekb@gmail.com or visit ThePrécis.com

This article is part of our new Small Business Spotlight series, which runs Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on Redondo Beach Patch. Get your business featured.