Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins
Posted by Sweetpea On holiday, I bought myself a new book of poetry by one of my favourite poets, Billy Collins, published by Picador Poetry. What a treat: Every morning since you disappeared for good, I read about you in the daily paper along with the box scores, the weather, and all the bad news. […]
Individuality in the Requiem Mass?
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine (Eternal rest give to them, O Lord). There is often talk about the tone of funerals: the balance between celebrating a life and grieving a loss; the ratio of bespoke parts reflecting individuality, to formulaic parts reflecting the universality of death. Catholics expect this balance in […]
OMG!!! Men of Mortuaries
Posted by Vale ‘Aren’t undertakers old, gray of complexion, gaunt and, well, creepy?’ It’s the opening question in a 2007 article in America’s Obit magazine and, of course, the answer is no – as evidenced by the photographs shown in a calendar displaying all that is best of American male mortician manhood. The Calendars were […]
A Catholic take on funeral diversity
Posted by Richard Rawlinson First, may I thank this blog’s host for encouraging me to think about my own expectations of funerals as a Catholic. One readily assumes theists and atheists approach funerals differently, just as we part ways on the subject of the soul’s life after the body’s death. Some non-believers might find following […]
Hamine Eggs – ‘life ends, and life begins’
Posted by Sweetpea I love reading Nigella Lawson’s cookery books just as much as I love cooking and eating the food she understands and describes so well. There is a particularly wonderful section called ‘Funeral Feast’ in her 2004 book ‘Feast’, published by Chatto & Windus. Please find a copy and read it in full. […]
I left my shoes and socks there….
Posted By Charles The Good Funeral Guide Blog is off on its travels again and, although I can now connect to the Internet while I journey, expect only intermittent and – even by this blog ‘s standards – erratic postings. But you are all on holiday too! In fact there are, apparently, 14 million of […]
Live burial – can you help?
Posted by Charles Once in a while we get a really interesting email here at the sweatshop we call GFG Central. The toiling minions are, as I write, clustering round the screen of the recipient. I’ll have to whip them back to their desks in a moment. The point is, it’s not for them. It’s […]
Endangered species
Posted by Charles Cowling There are many unsung heroes of the funeral industry – people who work very hard for the bereaved but whose efforts go mostly unrecognised and unthanked unless they screw up bigtime. So let’s hear it today for crematorium chapel attendants. All chapel attendants are not heroes. Some are surly, some indolent, […]
We gonna celebrate your party with you… (Kool and the Gang)
Posted by Sweetpea Am I alone in sensing a nasty niff? The vague whiff, perhaps, of a fashionable diktat in the air? I know it’s not really the done thing, but I have to confess to feeling a little oppressed by the phrase ‘celebration of life’. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a celebratory kinda […]
RT @GoodFunerals
This is the time of year when the Reaper takes a break and catches some rays, giving undertakers a chance to do housekeeping chores, and celebrants a chance to starve. There’s not a lot going on out there. I can’t begin to tell you what a quiet week it’s been. These are the best I could […]
