Making an impression
From Wikipedia: Franz Reichelt, also known as Frantz Reichelt or François Reichelt (1879 – February 4, 1912), was an Austrian-born French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer, now sometimes referred to as the Flying Tailor, who is remembered for his accidental death by jumping from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design. Reichelt had become fixated on developing a suit for aviators that […]
RIP Waldo
A special funeral was held at Joint Base Charleston. It wasn’t for an airman but instead for a member of the base’s security team. There wasn’t a 21-gun salute but instead just three guns fired three times. Heart-felt salutes were offered by members of the base andTaps was played. Even the howl of a fellow comrade […]
These rituals are for us all to re-imagine
Extracts from the speech delivered by Ru Callender at the launch of the 5th edition of the Natural Death Handbook at the Horse Hospital, London, 4 July. In the west, the idea of celebrating our ancestors has weakened along with our religious beliefs. We are less sure of our place in the natural order, less sure […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
By Lyra Mollington On Sunday I woke up feeling out of sorts and very parched. With this humid and unsettled weather, viruses will be having a field day. In these situations, I find the best course of action is complete rest and lots of green tea (Yutaka Midori – ordered online from Japan). I stayed in […]