Biographies “Bushey man launches public online ‘memorial’ - Watford Observer” plus 3 more |
- Bushey man launches public online ‘memorial’ - Watford Observer
- Biographies offer insight into FDR, Wilson - Post-Bulletin
- Three still in running for fire chief job - Delmarva Now
- The red phone box that has become Britain's smallest library - Daily Mail
| Bushey man launches public online ‘memorial’ - Watford Observer Posted: 01 Dec 2009 05:48 AM PST Bushey man launches public online 'memorial'1:00pm Tuesday 1st December 2009 A father-of-three from Bushey has launched an online 'memorial' to help mourners come to terms with their loss. Gary Goodman, 61, founded Everlasting UK to give grieving family and friends a platform to vent their feelings. It allows people to celebrate the lives of lost ones by leaving personalised tributes, photographs and biographies. The site, which is free to use, already contains a string of moving tributes following its official launch earlier this month. It has also attracted the backing of TV presenter Gloria Hunniford, whose daughter Caron Keating died of breast cancer in 2004. Speaking at the website's launch at London's Hempel Hotel, the grandmother-of-eight said: "People live on - on the lips of others. "I fully approve of Everlasting UK. It is a very beautiful and wonderful idea." Mr Goodman, who lives with wife Angela, said the memorial is designed to be a "thanksgiving" of life. He said: "It is and will remain our intention that Everlasting UK should be a site where the lives of 'ordinary' people can be celebrated through stories, photographs and memories. "Relatives and friends, wherever they are in the country - and indeed the world - can participate in this celebration. "Pictures taken by others which the family may never have seen can be uploaded and shared. "And family members and friends who may live abroad and who may not be able to travel to funerals will be able to contribute." He added: "The tributes will be available on our website for ever. At any time but especially on the anniversary of the death family members and friends may wish to revisit the website and post new messages of remembrance." Mr Goodman, who runs ICAB, an insurance firm based in Bushey, founded the site after a family holiday to America. Unlike the British national press, he noticed that large American newspapers carried detailed obituaries of 'regular' people. This, he said, inspired the concept of Everlasting UK. Mr Goodman, who has three grown-up children, said: "There were detailed descriptions of the person's life, their family, career, service to their country, charity work and so on. "But rather than being an obituary, they were a celebration, almost a thanksgiving, of the journey that the deceased had made in their lifetime. "I was genuinely moved by the ordinariness of the people involved and the fact that so many people had led such good simple lives that deserved to be remembered." The site went live on November 11, and continues to upload new tributes on a regular basis. These include brief biographies of late celebrities, including the singers Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Stephen Gately. For £50, mourners may also compile people's tributes into a professionally-bound keepsake book. Gary Goodman, Everlasting UK's managing director, said the site will support three charities that include The Army Benevolent Fund, The Caron Keating Foundation and Tress for Cities. It will also donate a free keepsake book to families of British servicemen who lose their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan. Mr Goodman said: "We will support these charities in any way we can, through donations, events and fundraisers. "Everlasting UK will also donate a free book to the next of kin of any member of the Armed Forces who has died whilst on active service." Gloria Hunniford's daughter Caron, a former Blue Peter presenter, died in 2004 after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 41. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Biographies offer insight into FDR, Wilson - Post-Bulletin Posted: 30 Nov 2009 07:01 AM PST By Jay Furst "Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt," by H.W. Brands FDR is more relevant now than ever, with the economic and international challenges America faces and a liberal Democrat in the White House, so any new biography of the most consequential 20th century president is welcome. This one's a quick read despite its length -- it's anecdotal and deals with personalities more than policy. The final third of the book, dealing with the war years, dwells more on Roosevelt's relationship with Churchill than the ins and outs of military and political strategy. You might expect a more scholarly approach from Brands, a University of Texas history professor whose work includes well-regarded biographies of Andrew Jackson and Benjamin Franklin, but there's only so much you can cover in one massive volume. Brands doesn't quite deliver on his unnecessarily provocative title. There's no question Roosevelt was born to a life of privilege, but that's only part of his story, which turns more on his physical disabilities, his force of character and political philosophy than wealth. The author rarely gets under FDR's skin to reveal what made him tick -- despite his sunny disposition, Roosevelt was inscrutable to even his closest friends and family -- nor does he put into full context why Roosevelt's presidency was "radical," rather than simply an improvisational "new deal" to address a profound crisis. But for a one-volume introduction to the president who more than any other in the past century shaped the country we live in, this is a good place to start. (Anchor Books, paperback, 888 pages, $19) "Woodrow Wilson," by John Milton Cooper Jr. This long-overdue, full-length reappraisal of Wilson is a natural companion to the Roosevelt biography -- FDR was assistant Navy secretary during World War I and it was Roosevelt who carried on Wilson's legacy of liberalism and global leadership. Wilson has been called "the most unknown -- and perhaps least knowable" of 20th century presidents. This is odd, considering he's consistently ranked among the greats and he left an immense paper trail, but a veil was drawn over the tragic end to his presidency -- he was stricken while on a campaign to win approval of his League of Nations plan, and was all but incapacitated for the last 18 months of his second term. To this day, Wilson's full impact has been little understood because of how his years ended. Cooper, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, is a leading Wilson scholar and his book is magnificent in style and scope. Where Brands' book reads more like a book report on well-researched material, Cooper writes with elegance, authority and deep insight. The melancholy last chapter of Wilson's life is especially compelling; world history might have been quite different if Wilson's health hadn't collapsed in 1919, and I would have liked more from the author on that missed potential. I wish Cooper had offered more of his thoughts on how history would have been different if Wilson's health hadn't crumbled in 1919. (Alfred A. Knopf, 720 pages, $35) This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Three still in running for fire chief job - Delmarva Now Posted: 01 Dec 2009 03:47 AM PST SALISBURY -- The pool of candidates vying to be the next fire chief has been narrowed to three. City administrators recently completed interviews of the top three candidates, and the new hire must gain a majority vote from the five-member City Council. Former Chief David See announced his retirement last April and officially retired in June after 30 years in fire service and five years as chief. Richard Hoppes was appointed acting chief shortly after See's announcement. Hoppes is in the running with Peter Finley, a fire chief from Winslow Township, N.J., and Bernard Becker, a former chief from Warren County, Ohio. City Administrator John Pick is uncertain when deliberations will conclude. A search committee formed to find candidates will assist Mayor Jim Ireton in choosing a candidate, but not without input from the firefighters. About 50 firefighters met with the candidates in a question-and-answer session last week, according to Pick. The city administrator said firefighters are expected to forward their choice to the mayor's office this week. Without officially released biographies from the city, The Daily Times performed independent research on each candidate. Hoppes served as deputy chief in the fire department since 2003 and began as a volunteer firefighter in 1985 before serving full-time three years later. Finley served the fire department in Vineland, N.J., for 20 years, according to an article published in The Daily Journal. He has served as a chief since 2003. In 2006, he became chief at the Winslow Township Fire Department. Finley has a degree in fire science and administration from the University of Maryland. An online profile said the Finley Winslow department is a combined paid/volunteer department -- like Salisbury. Becker has about 30 years experience in firefighting, has worked with combination departments and has served at the rank of chief since 1997, according to an online resume listed with chiefberniebecker.com. 410-845-4630 This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| The red phone box that has become Britain's smallest library - Daily Mail Posted: 01 Dec 2009 05:27 AM PST By Daily Mail Reporter Cunning villagers have found a novel way to cope with the shortage of libraries in their area by turning an old red phone box into a book exchange. The former BT phone kiosk has been transformed from a telephone exchange to Britain's smallest library by cunning residents and now stocks around 100 titles. Villagers rallied together to set up the book box after their mobile library service was cancelled.  Book box: Villagers in the Somerset village of Westbury-sub-Mendip wait in line to use the country's smallest library which was converted from an old red phone box Happy reading: The phone box now houses titles from cooking books to the classics and blockbusters to children's books The parish council purchased the box, a Giles Gilbert Scott K6 design, for £1, and residents in the Somerset village of Westbury-sub-Mendip put up wooden shelves inside and donated their own books. The phone box now houses titles from cooking books to the classics and blockbusters to children's books.
'It has really taken off,' Parish councillor Bob Dolby told The Guardian. 'Turnover is rapid and there's a good range of books, everything from reference books to biographies and blockbusters.' Reinvented: The box was bought for £1 and residents put up wooden shelves inside and donated their own books while a located business supplied the signs Meanwhile resident Angela Buchanan was also full of praise for the book box. 'It's such a brilliant idea,' she said. 'Our nearest library is Wells, four miles away, so if you don't want to go into the town but have run out of something to read, it's great you can use this. 'All sorts of interesting books turn up – manuals, picture books, good literary novels.' The phone box library is open every day for 24 hours and is lit at night. There is a regular check on it to see if some titles are not moving. These are then shipped on to a charity shop to keep the phone box collection fresh. BT has received 770 applications for communities to 'adopt a kiosk' and so far 350 old boxes have been handed to parish councils.
Share this article:This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Biographies - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
What a fabulous idea! Good luck to them!
- Guerilla Chinchilla, Caged, Scotland, 01/12/2009 13:42
Report abuse