Double standards?
There’s a very characteristic Daily Mail story in, of all places, today’s Daily Mail. It describes outrage in the environs of Wisbech concerning the ‘floral tributes’ which adorned the funeral of a notably industrious armed robber, Thomas Curtis. One of the tributes, above, took the form of an ATM machine of the sort that Mr […]
The British way of death
“You don’t mind if I go, do you?” “No, Granny, it’s been nice having you.” Libby Purves’ daughter to her grandmother on her last day.
Introducing the Artisan coffin
Greg Holdsworth makes coffins in New Zealand. He says: We offer a wide range of real and hand-finished options made from sustainable wood, some with native timbers. Our designs are environmentally considered – if there’s a better way to do it we’re probably already doing so – and our appropriately priced caskets meet the highest […]
Compassion fatigue
I vividly remember the first day my medical school classmates and I met our cadavers in the anatomy lab. Large body bags lay on metal tables that had been bolted to the floor. I remember the sheer size of the bags best. No doubt existed in my mind that dead human bodies indeed lay within […]
Wounded knee
Shrapnel retrieved after the cremation of World War 2 vet Ronald Brown. He stepped on a landmine in 1944 and had been carrying it around in one leg ever since. All 6oz of it. Full story here.
Hinterlands between the living and the dead
We didn’t cover the Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead celebrations on 1 & 2 November. Perhaps that was an oversight. It’s a colourful and intriguing festival of great interest to Westerners. Those from cultures influenced by Protestantism tend to be a bit tongue-tied in their relationships with their dead. The Dia […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
Posted by Daisy Dury A couple of weeks ago, Lyra told me how much she was looking forward to seeing the latest Bond film. With a big smile she claimed that this was nothing to do with Daniel Craig. ‘Can you believe it? Judi Dench is older than us. Living proof that it’s never too […]
Quote of the day
“I didn’t (mention it)? That’s terrible… Oh Christ Almighty, what an oversight. Oh man, me big brother’s gonna kill me… Do you know I forgot to mention me mum’s passing? I can’t believe it…“ Rod Stewart, after an an interviewer had pointed out the omission from his autobiography of any reference to his mother’s death.
There should be a regulation against it
In the event, there wasn’t a lot of call for regulation of the funeral industry in the aftermath of the TV exposés of eyebrow-raising behind-the-scenes practices at branches of Funeral Partners Ltd, Co-operative Funeralcare and Dignity plc. There’ll always be those who want it, of course, and some of them work in the industry. But […]
Coffin dodgers
As far as Hallowe’en surprises go, finding a gang of men hiding in coffins bound for a funeral directors would be pretty spooky. Especially when it’s a trio of stowaway immigrants trying to enter Britain illegally. Border Force officers made the frightening discovery while searching a lorry from Bulgaria – across the border from Dracula’s […]
