Eulogy back from near-death experience
I recently had a row with Eulogy magazine. They were slow to pay me for an article I wrote for them. It’s never a good idea to smash up a contact. I had no beef with the editor, Alfred Tong, who seemed nice, bright and funny. It was the accounts dept where my rancour lay. I considered […]
Rite on
Presently, more than 50 per cent of people who die in an NHS hospital do not receive last offices. How did it come to pass that hospitals stopped performing last offices for dead patients? How was it that a ritual as old as time was so coldly abandoned? How did it come to be acceptable […]
Nice guys finish first
Celebrants gain all the important insights into funeral directors which are denied to clients. We get to find out what they’re really like, why they do it and whether they really care. So here’s a tip for all funeral consumers. When your celebrant has been to see you, and you’ve had that nice long chat […]
Co-operative Funeralcare puts its money on alkaline hydrolysis
From The Co-operative booklet (2011) My Legacy. Ethical Strategy: Throughout the 20th century, people in the UK were limited to the choice of either burial or cremation when dealing with a loved one’s remains. Now, in the early part of the 21st century, The Co-operative Funeralcare is putting significant resources behind the development of Resomation.® […]
Rat chat
Can Twitter handle theology? No problem. This discussion took place idly over three days. GoodFunerals Charles Cowling “Our minister said God needed another angel in heaven, so he took my husband. But I needed my husband too. ” http://bit.ly/ggWU9Z mylastsong My Last Song @goodfunerals Heaven must be overcrowded with angels. It’s probably a very big […]
Roundup
The last ten days or so in tweets. I only tweet good stuff, remember — all the best death stories from around the world. These are all worth checking out. DIY suicide causes horrible death, claims EXIT. Time to legalise? http://bit.ly/ffDoI1 Online site in memo of Stephen Ross – http://bit.ly/hxUArO Contains this irresistible invite: Click here to contact […]
Blog off
This blog is taking a break. It needs good sea air, best bitter beer, fresh seafood, long walks and things other than death to think about. It needs regenerating. Do come back. Posting shortly will be Kathryn Edwards on Malidoma Some and the role and importance of ritual in funerals. Kathryn has journeyed to Burkina […]
Bang to rights?
I don’t know if it’s the anarch in me or the libertarian, but I am inclined to be very relaxed about the absence of any regulatory structure for funeral directors. Almost everything you can think of is governed by regs designed to reassure and protect consumers. An unregulated funeral industry looks anomalous. Catteries are regulated. […]
Eulogy magazine – the reason why
Dear Charles, Please accept my sincere apologies for the late payment of your invoice. Eulogy has recently undergone a major restructuring after the departures of our features editor and three non-productive directors. I became a director after their departures and have looked to sort out the mess they left me with. In addition, a close […]
Conduct unbecoming
I don’t want this blog to get moany and bitter. Had I a good news story to break today I would most certainly do so. To be honest, not much has happened for a few days — and it’s all too easy for me to become lazily reactive. And a bit moany, I’m afraid. A number of […]
