Thought for the day
“I wonder if, working with funerals and the bereaved, one can also be too attached to the idea of death, taking refuge in it.” Clarissa Tan
The ideal death show
Article in today’s Spectator by Clarissa Tan. (There is no paywall around this article, so I hope the Speccie won’t mind us reproducing it all.) I am in a yurt, talking about death. Everyone is seated in a circle, and I am the next-to-last person to share. The last of the summer sun is shining through the […]
Pebbles in the press
Davina Kemble’s pebble coffin has been featured in the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. She’ll be on BBC Wiltshire next Thursday afternoon. If you click on the cutting it will leap up to a larger, more readable size.
The crying need for more funeral venues
Guest post by Wendy Coulton of Dragonfly Funerals It struck me today when queuing at a takeout coffee kiosk how many choices I am prompted to make when I place my order – what type of coffee, how many shots, what size cup, any extras (chocolate sprinkles or cinnamon on top) and whether I have a loyalty […]
Don’t charge, don’t care?
A mother whose son was stillborn is calling for an investigation after his ashes were not returned to her for over a year, reports the Northern Echo. A spokesman for Speckmans Funeral Service, part of Dignity Funerals, said: “We collected the cremated remains and returned them to the funeral home with the intention of contacting the family […]
Death Over Dinner
It seems that Death Cafe has spawned a little brother, birthplace Portland Oregon, dob sometime earlier this summer. It’s name is Death Over Dinner. The aims of Death Over Dinner are pretty much the same as those of Death Cafe, namely, to get folk together to talk about you-know-what. It’s the initiative of Michael Hebb, […]
Father
Mickey, Cormac and Cathal Mac Connell at the funeral of their brother, Seán Mac Connell When my father died The professionals cried, The undertaker and doctor. Little more need be said Of a man with a heart of gold Locked in a tabernacle of arthritic bones who could melt stones… with his words. Who loved […]
Royal funeral
Not wanting to leave anything to chance, or to the event planning abilities of others, pioneering LGBT activist Jose Sarria laid out specific instructions for how his funeral would go down. His Imperial Court family — all those members of the organization that he founded when he named himself Empress I in 1965 — made it happen, and all […]
Let’s have a feedback frenzy
We don’t do feedback forms at the Good Funeral Awards. Whose eyes light up at the sight of a feedback form (groan)? But that doesn’t mean to say we don’t care like hell what you think. Please say. First, there’s the business of the misnomer. The Good Funeral Awards is but one constituent part of […]
Good Funeral Awards 2013 – the winners and the runners up
Most Promising New Funeral Director Winner: Poppy Mardall Runner-up: Stacey Bentley Embalmer of the Year Winner: Liz Davis Runner-up: Angie Maclachlan. The Eternal Slumber Award for Coffin Supplier of the Year Winner: Yuli Somme Runner-up: Roger Fowle. Most Significant Contribution to the Understanding of Death Winner: Jean Francis Runner-up: Pia Interlandi Crematorium Attendant of the […]
