Our Glorious Dead
Were you intrigued by the illustration on the previous post of the Grammofonus Orchestra? If you were, you might have done some googling. If you were too idle or too busy, we’d like to show you what you would have found. We can’t find any information about Grammofonus except for a website here and some […]
Quote of the day
“When a very loved friend dies they make a gift of their love of life to you in that it’s now your responsibility to love life as much as they did.” Martin Amis on the death of his lifelong friend Christopher Hitchens
Sign of the times
“A survey last week listed the 50 indicators that you have become a fully fledged adult, which include being able to bleed a radiator, washing up immediately after eating, and carrying spare shopping bags “just in case”. “I’ve already failed on quite a few – such as owning “best towels” and “filing post” – but […]
Do women write better about death than men?
At the Telegraph Hay Festival last weekend, Martin Amis opined that women write better about sex than men. They do so, he said, with greater sincerity. Men get carried away showing off their writerly potency. This set me wondering whether female celebrants write better, more emotionally articulate funerals than men. Amis went on to say: […]
Undertaking in China
“Traditionally, older folks would say this profession is only for those people who are not married, have no children, and have no choice.” Source
Belated jubilee blog
From Ed Mayo’s blog: ‘Jubilee has a different meaning for me, coming out of the Jubilee 2000 and debt campaigns. And I can’t help but smile at another meaning, unmeant for sure, in a co-operative advert cited by Private Eye this week: “Co-operative Funeralcare: congratulations to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee…our service […]
New life for old dead people
It may have passed us by here at the GFG-Batesville Tower. We can wear thin. Exciting innovation, breathlessly announced in gushing PR-ese, sometimes gets the yeah-yeah. We’re talking about the US trend for putting QR codes on headstones. Has it crossed the Atlantic yet? If not, why not? We concede that it may have. It’s […]
Linda Demelza Robinson
Posted by James Leedam It was with great sadness that I heard that Linda Robinson died at the weekend. I received a telephone call from Diane Thomas, of Humber Woodland of Remembrance, to let me know that Linda had died. Diane didn’t know that we were in fact expecting Linda to arrive any minute with […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
Posted by Lyra Mollington When my mother died, I coped really well. I felt fine at the funeral too. Well, a little bit angry at the detachment and complacency of the Anglican priest, but otherwise fine. However, for many years afterwards, I found it difficult not to dwell on the fact that she hadn’t reached […]
The Art of Portrait Sculpture
“Death Mask Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1769-1830” Can be seen at Presence: The Art of Portrait Sculpture With portraits by artists from Giacometti to Ron Mueck, Presence is a terrific gathering of people carved, cast, modelled in clay or turned to stone. The Observer’s Laura Cumming takes a look at some of the works on show Presence: […]
