We speak to Times writer Ben Cooke on obituary writing, Gen Z and quietly dropping those violin lessons…

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the working day: so what was on the menu this morning?

muesli, yoghurt, fruit, honey.

Sum up what you do at News UK in the shortest sentence possible.

I write obituaries and a few other bits and bobs.

Lay a bit of context on that?

I interview the friends, family, and colleagues of the late and great, then try to convey something of who they were.

What attracted you to the role in the first place?

The chance to earn a living writing about interesting people.

What’s the most interesting/challenging part of your job?

Getting interviewees to talk about people they’ve known for decades in such a way that a stranger would understand their feelings about them.

You’re also on the Gen Z board. What does the board do?

On the Gen Z board we advocate ways for News UK to improve both its products and its working culture, to attract younger readers and employees. We hosted our second Gen Z Future Forum event on Friday February 28 with a number of interactive sessions and focus groups for under 27s in the business.

Who is your role model? And why?

I don’t think I have a role model, but the person I most admire is probably Polly Higgins, the environmental lawyer who quit her lucrative corporate job to think up an international legal framework that, if implemented, might stop companies and governments vandalising the natural world.

What is your most treasured possession?

If I can have a bundle – letters that my friends have gone to the senseless, adorable trouble of posting to me.

You’ve won ten million on the Lottery – what do you do?

Host a ludicrously extravagant party, then go off and see whether I have it in me to research and write a book.

What one bit of advice would you give someone wanting to do your job?

If ever you find yourself interviewing people for an obituary, don’t ask many questions – just let the bereaved spiel. They’ll find it cathartic and you’ll get the best anecdotes that way.

Tell us something not many people know about you…

I’d love to be musical, but my only experience of playing an instrument is six months of violin lessons, after which my tutor put her hand on my shoulder, and said that the best thing for everyone’s eardrums would be for me to stop.