Validating the unverifiable
Last year’s TV documentaries revealed shocking scenes in funeral home mortuaries which horrified undertakers as much as they did the public. But just as the documentaries did not rouse the public to descend in angry mobs on their nearest funeral home, so they failed, also, to rouse good undertakers to fight back by demonstrating convincingly […]
Good Funeral Award nominations close in TWO days!
NOT under new management!! Nominations for this year’s Good Funeral Awards close at midnight on Wednesday, 31 July. It’s not too late to nominate the person you’ve been meaning to get around to nominating — even if that person is yourself. Come one, come all!! We already have a massive postbag. Brian Jenner told me […]
Time creates constant anniversaries: 99 years, why not?
Posted by Richard Rawlinson We like round-figure anniversaries. They give us something to look back on to look forward to. Next July, the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I (28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918), expect the media to be awash with coverage, and our streets, churches and other buildings to be filled […]
A Co-op good news story
You may remember the case of Lisa Mullan, whose father chose to be buried at Crossways woodland burial site but, because of an administrative muddle, ended up being buried somewhere else. We’ve just heard some good news from Lisa. Co-operative Funeralcare sector manager Jack Walsh subsequently invited Lisa’s mother to a meeting. There, he gave her […]
Farewell, T-Model Ford
From the obituary in The Times (£): Blues musician whose whiskey-fuelled guitar playing, raw lyrics and risqué repartee made him the toast of the Mississippi Delta It was difficult to distinguish between reality and legend in the life of T-Model Ford. Like many of the great bluesmen, his ability to self-mythologise and his delight in […]
Can we agree to differentiate?
Ed’s note: Here’s your chance to interrogate the BHA on humanist funerals. If you’ve something to say, say it. Hannah or another BHA representative will respond. Guest post by Hannah Hart from the British Humanist Association explains the basics about humanist funerals, what happens at them and how they are organised. The 2011 census showed […]
Work is love made visible
“I think one of the most important aspects of the coffin is that it can be carried. And I think we’re meant to carry each other, and I think carrying someone you love, committing them, is very important for us that we deal with death; we want to know that we have played our part […]
Good Funeral Awards, Sky 1 tonight at 10.00pm
The Good Funeral Awards is an hour-long documentary, one of a series covering a variety of heartwarming events designed to lull viewers into a good feeling that all’s well in a world that has such people in it. Well, that’s what we were led to suppose, and a number of bereaved people let us into […]
Bespoke poems as funeral eulogies
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Poems are often read at funerals. Here are just a few, including WH Auden’s Funeral Blues, which moved many cinema-goers to tears when featured in Four Weddings… ‘He was my North, my South, my East and West/My working week and my Sunday rest…’ But are many celebrants confident enough in their word […]
Nina Wigglesworth on Pre-Planning
Guest post by Kateyanne Unullisi I love dogs. God I love dogs. And now it’s nearly time for a dog I love to die. Nina, my daughter’s dog. The Golden Retriever puppy she got when newlywed in 2001 is now 13-years-old; and though lumpy and halt, she is ever patient and tender with their three […]
