Personalisation at its most underwhelming
Frazer Consultants a personalization, technology, and consulting company for the death care profession announced the launch of their new, patent pending funeral product, the Life Journey temporary grave marker. This new, revolutionary invention is not only a temporary grave marker, but also a unique keepsake. After the permanent grave marker is in place, the photo […]
Tendagrave
“Tendagrave is a free service for people who cannot for whatever reason tend a family or friend’s grave. It will put you in touch with other people in a similar situation. You then offer to tend a grave in your local area and, in return, your loved one’s grave will also be lovingly looked after.” […]
In remembrance
Posted by Richard Rawlinson On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Germans signed the Armistice, making 11 November our Remembrance Day when thoughts turn to members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty since World War I. We may be moved by the two minutes’ […]
Online amnesia
ObituariesToday.com is national obituary service, with funeral home listings, pre-planning information, a resource section for funeral information, as well as obituaries and memorial announcements. In other words it’s one of those online memorial websites. There are lots and lots of them. If you want to find the page on ObituariesToday which commemorates, shall we say, […]
The chaos of meaning
We have just received the following press release: In early 2011, Jimmy Edmonds’ son Joshua was killed in a road accident in SE Asia. RELEASED is a photographic essay and a personal response to the tragedy of his son’s death. Intended for publication both as an exhibition and as a book, the project features a mix […]
Quote of the week
James Horwill, the Australia rugby captain, puts the World Cup semi-finals into perspective. Before every match, he winds white tape around his left forearm and writes two names on it with a black marker pen, Macca and Ponto. They were his close friends of his from childhood who, a week before he was due to […]
From the heroic to the heartfelt – obits in Iceland
Posted by Vale Can the obituaries published in Icelandic newspapers tell us anything about our changing attitudes to death and dying? Obituaries are a national pastime in Iceland. Every day the leading national newspaper – the Morgungblaðið – publishes pages and pages of them. And they are read avidly. One writer has even claimed that […]
Dead ordinary
Redditch, where I live, is a town most people would only visit by mistake. It is a 1964 new town, a dreamy planner’s dud. We have Britain’s only cloverleaf roundabout. It’s not something I’ve ever heard anyone brag about. Yet we boast our eminent citizens. John Bonham and Charles Dance were born here; Rik Mayall […]
A true one-off
The best obituaries are to be found in the Victoria Times Colonist. Its archive of obits will prove a treasure trove for social historians of the future. Here’s an especially fine one — he sounds like a lovely guy. I like the scattergun approach. The task of collecting single words or phrases is something that celebrants […]
Hideous or beautiful?
There’s the usual row going on in a cemetery (Colchester, actually) about who can dangle what from where, if anywhere, and what is decorous and what is simply grieving trash strewn by frightful common people mad with grief and commonness. Yes, the great memorialisation debate will run and run. I say memorialisation, but used not […]
