Wounded knee
Shrapnel retrieved after the cremation of World War 2 vet Ronald Brown. He stepped on a landmine in 1944 and had been carrying it around in one leg ever since. All 6oz of it. Full story here.
Hinterlands between the living and the dead
We didn’t cover the Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead celebrations on 1 & 2 November. Perhaps that was an oversight. It’s a colourful and intriguing festival of great interest to Westerners. Those from cultures influenced by Protestantism tend to be a bit tongue-tied in their relationships with their dead. The Dia […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
Posted by Daisy Dury A couple of weeks ago, Lyra told me how much she was looking forward to seeing the latest Bond film. With a big smile she claimed that this was nothing to do with Daniel Craig. ‘Can you believe it? Judi Dench is older than us. Living proof that it’s never too […]
Quote of the day
“I didn’t (mention it)? That’s terrible… Oh Christ Almighty, what an oversight. Oh man, me big brother’s gonna kill me… Do you know I forgot to mention me mum’s passing? I can’t believe it…“ Rod Stewart, after an an interviewer had pointed out the omission from his autobiography of any reference to his mother’s death.
There should be a regulation against it
In the event, there wasn’t a lot of call for regulation of the funeral industry in the aftermath of the TV exposés of eyebrow-raising behind-the-scenes practices at branches of Funeral Partners Ltd, Co-operative Funeralcare and Dignity plc. There’ll always be those who want it, of course, and some of them work in the industry. But […]
Coffin dodgers
As far as Hallowe’en surprises go, finding a gang of men hiding in coffins bound for a funeral directors would be pretty spooky. Especially when it’s a trio of stowaway immigrants trying to enter Britain illegally. Border Force officers made the frightening discovery while searching a lorry from Bulgaria – across the border from Dracula’s […]
How many of our crems are fit for purpose?
It’s extraordinary how biddable bolshy Brits can be when they get to a crematorium — amazing what they put up with. Presumably it’s a matter of low-to-zero expectations. You expect it to be awful. It is. Whatever. Up in Jarrow, some people have had enough. Resident James Southern rates South Shields crematorium “wholly inadequate”. He said: […]
Whither Richard?
I don’t know about you, but I’m missing Richard Rawlinson, our genially provocative once and future (I hope) blogger on religious affairs, fashion, art, you name it. What brought my nostalgia home was reading about a cause close to his heart, the tug of war for the skeleton of Richard III (if it’s really him), […]
What if you’ve just had enough?
Silvan Luley, who is unofficially known as the deputy director of Dignitas, says he is concerned that under current Swiss law the association cannot offer assisted suicides to individuals who are “perfectly healthy”. Luley said: “The more restrictive you design a law, the more difficult you make it for people to access a dignified end […]
The depths they go to
In Palmerston, New Zealand, permission to inter ashes in a new natural burial ground has been put on hold. The council wants a period of consultation in order to arrive at a “a better understanding of what sort of natural burial ground people want” in the light of the assertion by a councillor that “cremation […]
