Belated jubilee blog
From Ed Mayo’s blog: ‘Jubilee has a different meaning for me, coming out of the Jubilee 2000 and debt campaigns. And I can’t help but smile at another meaning, unmeant for sure, in a co-operative advert cited by Private Eye this week: “Co-operative Funeralcare: congratulations to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee…our service […]
New life for old dead people
It may have passed us by here at the GFG-Batesville Tower. We can wear thin. Exciting innovation, breathlessly announced in gushing PR-ese, sometimes gets the yeah-yeah. We’re talking about the US trend for putting QR codes on headstones. Has it crossed the Atlantic yet? If not, why not? We concede that it may have. It’s […]
Linda Demelza Robinson
Posted by James Leedam It was with great sadness that I heard that Linda Robinson died at the weekend. I received a telephone call from Diane Thomas, of Humber Woodland of Remembrance, to let me know that Linda had died. Diane didn’t know that we were in fact expecting Linda to arrive any minute with […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
Posted by Lyra Mollington When my mother died, I coped really well. I felt fine at the funeral too. Well, a little bit angry at the detachment and complacency of the Anglican priest, but otherwise fine. However, for many years afterwards, I found it difficult not to dwell on the fact that she hadn’t reached […]
The Art of Portrait Sculpture
“Death Mask Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1769-1830” Can be seen at Presence: The Art of Portrait Sculpture With portraits by artists from Giacometti to Ron Mueck, Presence is a terrific gathering of people carved, cast, modelled in clay or turned to stone. The Observer’s Laura Cumming takes a look at some of the works on show Presence: […]
Death of a best friend
posted by Quokkagirl I received a moving email the other day from a friend telling me that Archie, her beloved and faithful old Westie had finally lost his battle with cancer. The last time I saw Archie was a couple of months ago – looking older but still the feisty little man he had always […]
Quote of the day
“If I live ’til I’m 80, I fully intend to reacquaint myself with the world of opiate drugs. I think it’s ideal for the elderly. It should be there for the asking. If you’re over 70, you should be able to go and say, ‘Just give me some diamorphine and I won’t mither you any more.’” “Increasingly, […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
Posted by Lyra Mollington Three days ago I decided it was high time I donned my ‘mystery mourner hat’ again. There was quite a large crowd gathering which boded well for an interesting service. However, I felt slightly uneasy when I saw that the people standing outside the crematorium chapel were nearly all twenty-somethings: pretty […]
‘Your stories’ invitation 2
NIGHTMARE FUNERAL? No one likes funerals but have you had an especially bad experience? Did it cost far more that you expected? Were you poorly treated? Was it simply not the send-off your friend or relative deserved? ITV are making a film investigating the funeral industry and we want to hear about your experiences. Please […]
Quote of the day
“The challenge in our industry is that our families have almost no idea what benefits they want, much less what they need. The obvious result is a focus on price.” Lajos Szabo, US funeral director
