A great newspaper editor is entitled to a family-decorated casket with newspaper front pages all over it. And the act of lovingly crafting this vessel for cremation became therapeutic for a family blindsided by sudden death. We played Mozart's Requiem in D Minor at the crematory.
Read MoreWhen we meet with musicians in the process of helping a family put a funeral together, we tell them "Don't worry about performing. It's not about being perfect. Your music is an offering in honor of the deceased and in support of the family." Jennifer Hudson hits the right balance and the high notes here at the service for the immortal Aretha Franklin.
Read MoreIt’s been 42 years since Elvis Aaron Presley’s died of a prescription drug overdose in the master bath of Graceland. With the death came a need to understand the whole arc of his life: from quick, culturally transformative success to utter patheticness. It doesn’t take much research to be reminded that Presley was a mercurial, violent, paranoid man at the end, terrified of losing his reputation. His relationships with women were often coercive, abusive and terrible. How quickly he would have become a “Me Too” casualty.
Elvis’s father and agent Col. Parker staged a elaborate funeral
Read MoreI was especially happy to hear the strains of "I Vow to Thee My Country" at the conclusion of Senator John McCain's service at the Washington National Cathedral. The original poem was set to music in the 1920s by Gustav Holst and is employed at every (no kidding) British Royal wedding or funeral (it was Lady Diana's favorite). Its lyrics are so patriotic that progressive members of the British clergy find them offensively nationalistic, but it was a great choice for the heroic senator and I confess to gasping with glee and relief when I recognized it, watching the televised service intently as the casket and family walked sadly but victoriously down the aisle.
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