Obituaries

As I get older I find myself reading obituaries more and more. Marking one’s time on the tree of life by seeing who’s fallen off the neighbouring branch, I suppose. Two obituaries in The Guardian today caught my eye.

 

The first is for Gladys Tantaquidgeon (what a glorious name!) – a matriarch of the Mohegan tribe – who has died aged 106. Gladys obviously was able to cling to the branch for longer than most of us will ever be able to do. She sounds to have been quite a character.

 

The second is for Eva Svankmajerova, wife of the filmmaker Jan Svankmajer, and an accomplished artist in her own right. She has died at 65 (only nine years older than me; damn, that branch is close!). I see that she was responsible in part for the animation and puppetry of Little Otik, a creepy little jewel of a film.