Coffins on the shopping channel
Newcastle undertaker Carl Marlow has, by his own accounts, been quiet for the last five years — busy building his business. For his fellow undertakers this was too good to last. Carl has never been one to take the view that the best way to achieve change is to work within the industry, and this is […]
Death in the community
Here’s an interesting idea: the café mortel, or death café. Never heard of it? No, I hadn’t either. It’s a Swiss thing, apparently. In the words of the Independent: The concept, although a little morbid, is straightforward enough – a dozen strangers meet to have a drink and talk about death for a couple of […]
The Big Hug Appeal
The good people at Cruse have asked me to tell you all about their new appeal, which will enable them to support bereaved children. Of course, I am delighted to do so. What is the Big Hug Appeal? For those struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one, the cold, dark days of […]
Pulling the plug
I know I go on about this, but I think it important. Long, long life is getting to be a problem. Thirty years ago dying was a relatively brief, often unexpected episode. Clever medics can now prolong it – intolerably and expensively. That last goodbye for most of us just keeps getting put off and […]
The International Necronautical Society
MANIFESTO We, the First Committee of the International Necronautical Society, declare the following:- 1.That death is a type of space, which we intend to map, enter, colonise and, eventually, inhabit. 2. That there is no beauty without death, its immanence. We shall sing death’s beauty – that is, beauty. 3. That we shall take it […]
Death’s a bummer
I am indebted to Nurse Myra over at Gimcrack Hospital (where the nurses are pretty and the doctors are pissed) for telling me about JBS Haldane (1892-1964). Nurse Myra does a fine line in rare people, most of them bonkers, and JBS Haldane is an outstanding specimen. Find out more at the Usual Suspect. In […]
Smashing news
Here’s how a recent piece in the Daily Mail began: Being freeze dried and smashed into little pieces sounds like the stuff of sci-fi horror movies. But it is one of two methods of dealing with our dearly departed that could soon be available from a funeral director near you. And in keeping with sci-fi’s […]
Ethical schmethical
Here’s a question sent to money-problem solver Margaret Dibben in the Guardian. It exemplifies the utter crapness of funeral plans and the business methods of the People’s Undertaker. Two years ago, after the untimely death of a young friend, I took out a bronze cremation plan with The Co-operative Funeralcare. I discussed it on the […]
Somewhere between here and eternity
I enjoyed this piece over at Obit magazine: It’s good to be a dead leader. Not so for Ariel Sharon, the (arguably) most influential and the (certainly) most enduring politician in Israel. Sharon has never been memorialized, has never had a funeral, and is barely mentioned anymore in Israeli political conversations. He’s also not really dead. Into […]
The art of dying
There’s an interesting piece over in the New York Times about an artist, Tobi Kahn who, when his mother lay dying, filled her hospital room with his paintings of flowers. Out of that private, personal display for his mother, Mr. Kahn has built a body of work that aspires to bring solace, comfort, a kind […]
