Rumble in the jungle
There’s a very good interview with Dr Hannah Rumble, death scholar and author of the shortly-to-be-published Natural Burial, co-authored with Prof Douglas Davies, over on the Seven Ponds blog. We were struck by some of her insights. These included: * “What distinguishes Britain from America in the main is in the title: ‘natural’. In […]
Jesa
We’ve talked quite a lot recently about remembrancing and ways we can do that, either through restoration of lost customs, plagiarising others’ customs, or innovation. As we discussed ways of commemorating our antecedents, Jonathan urged us to mind, also, our descendants. Today we reproduce in their entirety, because they’re so interesting, the reflections of a […]
Quote of the day
“He’s so unpopular, if he became a funeral director people would stop dying.” The late Tony Banks of John Major. An old quote, but one well capable of being dusted off.
A Viking funeral for ashes
We sometimes have good ideas here at the GFG, but we rarely make them happen. In life there are starters and there are finishers. We have little of the latter about us. One of our better ideas was a model Viking longship for launching ashes in. We urged this on our good friend Richard Martin […]
Trading Standards ambush Milton Keynes undertakers
Here’s an interesting article from the Milton Keynes Citizen which describes a Trading Standards department that sets the pace for some of the rest: Milton Keynes Council Trading Standards has recently undertaken a project looking at the funeral directors industry to determine if businesses are compliant with consumer protection legislation. The trade within Milton Keynes […]
Vicar says no
“The only time I have turned any request for a song down was the occasion I was asked to take a funeral for an elderly gentleman and they want to play “Relax” as he was brought in. I reckon I am about as liberal they come on some issues but even I could not maintain […]
Inspired omission
The new Bond film features a military repatriation Wootton Bassett-style. Seems there’s been a boob. According to the Telegraph: Roger Smith, a funeral director brought in to take part in the scenes, tells Mandrake that he was shocked by the film makers’ ignorance. “The annoying thing was that the directors didn’t seem aware of the […]
Quote of the day
A 90 year-old woman, told she was dying: “How could this happen to me? Just bad luck I guess.” Quoted here.
A cycle of denial and fear
We’ve extracted this from a Q and A with mortician Caitin Doughty in the Los Angeles Times. Some brilliantly expressed insights here, we’re sure you’ll agree. Do people see death differently in other parts of the world? How — and how does that change the way they respond to death? Some cultures are terrified of […]
There were six of us in the house. Seconds ago there had been seven.
Fran and her Mum on her 70th Fran Hall, a funeral industry practitioner of many years’ standing, much admired by the GFG, now works as a consultant. She is also the newly-appointed Chair of the Natural Death Centre. For years Fran successfully managed to balance detatchment and empathy in her professional life, so how did it feel when […]
