I guess, essentially, life is a tragedy, but more for some than others.
I've never searched for any grave other than relatives, and only
then for the genealogical information on them.
Tasker Dunham
Remember how two weeks ago I visited the grave of Sandy Denny in Putney Vale Cemetery, London? Previously I thought that paying homage like that was a perfectly normal human activity but Tasker Dunham's comment left me wondering if I am unusually morbid or weirder than I might normally admit.
In my life, I have visited the graves of various well-known people. For example, twenty five years ago, down in Dorset, I visited the grave of Thomas Hardy in Stinsford churchyard. Actually, it's not all of him - just his heart. The rest of him is buried within the precincts of Westminster Abbey, London. The thought of the removal of Hardy's heart is slightly disturbing.
When on holiday in Seattle in 2014 - I made a point of visiting the grave of Jimi Hendrix in the city's Renton suburb. I blogged about that here.
Down in Laugharne, South Wales I have visited the simple grave of the poet Dylan Thomas on three or four occasions. He had a way with words but of course his life was tragically short. He died at the tender age of 39, a month after I was born. One can only imagine what else he might have written if he had lived a long life. Maybe one can absorb some of the literary genius of a man like that by simply standing at his graveside.
Another literary grave I have visited is that of Sylvia Plath. She died in 1963 and is buried in Heptonstall churchyard here in Yorkshire. She was only thirty years old when she chose to take her own life. In her memory, pilgrims have pushed dozens of pens into her grave. I blogged about my visit there in 2018. Go here.
Is it ghoulish to visit the graves of famous people you admire? Very possibly but I can't say for sure. One grave I must visit in the next few months is that of my brother Simon who died in the summer of 2022. As the executor of his small estate, I arranged for a gravestone to be erected above the place where he was interred - back in my home village. This job was finally completed last October. Though I have seen a couple of photos of the gravestone, I have yet to see it with my own eyes.
Finally: Have you visited the graves of any particular famous people or personal heroes? Who and where?
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/vhNkg3e
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