Mal's Memories (From Penarth Times)

Mal's Memories

DO YOU remember the great emphasis given to people's obituaries in newspapers in times past?

One of my least favourite jobs as a junior reporter was covering funerals.

Armed with only a notepad and pencil I had to stand outside the church and attempt to take down the name of every mourner who attended.

I say "attempt" because when people saw you approaching they tended to dodge to one side, hide behind each other or rush in through the church doors in groups of three or four, giving you no chance to ask for their names.

And to add insult to injury some of them then complained bitterly to the editor when their names did not appear in print.

When you were rushing from person to person it was also difficult to be sure that you had the correct spelling of their names, and this was often another bone of contention.

Boy was I grateful when undertakers, or should I say funeral directors, started putting those little cards in the pews for people to sign their names, and gradually the practice of sending the office junior to do that most frustrating of jobs died a natural death.

* Malcolm Davies is a former editor of the Penarth Times. Mal's Memories are on the Penarth Times web site: www.thisispenarth.co.uk