Coffin and splutterin’
In the correspondence columns of the Feb Funeral Service Journal we find this touching plaint. Dig the velveteen undertakerly verbals, especially in the first sentence: Dear Sirs Re: The missing link One of the fundamental items provided by a Funeral Director is the coffin used to contain the mortal remains of our clients’ loved ones. When we […]
Nice obit
Really nice recent obit here from The Times: Hilary Ruth ALLEN Hilary Ruth (nee Castle). The family are sad to announce, after a long and brave 3 year battle with cancer the death of Hilary in Salisbury on the 5th January 2012, aged 67 years. She was a wonderful mother, wife and friend, whose presence […]
Is this the industry’s High Noon moment?
The funeral industry is in a bad place. Public reaction to last week’s Which? report revealed few friends. It also showed it to be no good at defending itself. Things are going to get worse. Time is running out. At the GFG we’ve lost count of the number of calls we’ve taken in the last […]
Publishing event of the year!
The Natural Death Handbook, Fifth Edition A thoroughly updated and revised edition of the Natural Death Centre‘s celebrated handbook. Now presented alongside a new collection of essays on death, dying and funeral practices by doctors, historians, authors, poets, theologians and artists including Richard Barnett, David Jay Brown, Dr Sheila Cassidy, Charles Cowling, Bill Drummond, Stephen Grasso, […]
Open-air cremation
Buddhist monks and devotees stand around a pyre during a high priest’s cremation ceremony at the Heain-sa temple in Hapcheon, South Korea, on Jan. 6, 2012. The ceremony, called Dabisik, was held for Ji-Kwan, a former head of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. The Dabisik ceremony signifies the return of the human body to nature. The […]
Irish Traveller’s grave
Enjoy the whole photo essay here.
Quote of the day
“I get up, drink my usual four coffees, have a look at the obituaries in The Times, and if I’m not in them, I’ll get on with the day’s work.” Patrick Moore at 88
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.
