No need
Suzie Howie was a showbiz publicist in Australia. She died a few days ago aged 63. Here are some extracts from her last message: I have had a terrific life and am so grateful for the fun, the excitement and the wonderful people who have been part of it. Couldn’t have done it without the […]
Publishing event of the year!
The Natural Death Handbook, Fifth Edition A thoroughly updated and revised edition of the Natural Death Centre‘s celebrated handbook. Now presented alongside a new collection of essays on death, dying and funeral practices by doctors, historians, authors, poets, theologians and artists including Richard Barnett, David Jay Brown, Dr Sheila Cassidy, Charles Cowling, Bill Drummond, Stephen Grasso, […]
Geek watch: no service by request
I always enjoy my weekly perusal of my favourite obits page in the Victoria Times Colonist, BC, Canada because (as you may know) I wonder if it describes a trend in the end-of-life event business which will cross the Atlantic. There are also some finely wrought word portraits of those who have died. Eleven deaths […]
What is a funeral for?
A survey of this blog’s favourite obits’ page in the Times Colonist in Victoria, on the west coast of Canada, yields features of interest. 12 deaths are recorded this week. So far as I can see, there’s not a single funeral among them. The breakdown reveals: 3 celebrations of life; 2 memorial services; 3 no […]
Funeralcare screwupdate, with added overpricing
It is with a heavy-hearted sense of duty that I record this beastly and deplorable allegation against Co-operative Funeralcare. You can find the full version at MoneySavingExpert.com. Don’t use co-operative funeralcare directors they are disgusting …They failed to complete the legal documents correctly they put the wrong funeral date on the documents … We were […]
Yes, we can
A few weeks back I lazily asked whether a private entrepreneur could open a crematorium in this country. I say lazily because I hoped someone would know the answer and spare me research time. I supposed that only local authorities can get permission from the Secretary of State to build a crem. I was wrong, […]
No Service By Request
I am extremely grateful to Gordon Thurston for this thorough and thoughtful analysis of the growing rejection in parts of both the US and Canada of the traditional practice of holding a funeral with the body of the person who has died present, and the preference, instead, either for a memorial service or for no […]
