Dusty's Eulogy by Neil in a book

[Naughty Zoot]

I ran across this today @ StarTribune.com:


Book: "A Wonderful Life: 50 Eulogies to Lift the Spirit," edited by Cyrus M. Copeland (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)
Between the title and the cover -- with a dove soaring into the great beyond -- this book looks to be unbearably maudlin, the kind of greeting-card drivel usually better left unsaid.

You can't fault the editor for scope, though: The eulogies are drawn from services for a wide spectrum of the famous, ranging from world-changers (Gandhi, King, Freud) to cultural icons (Julia Child, Charlie Chaplin, Lenny Bruce) to past celebrities (John Denver, Charles Atlas, Milton Berle).

The eulogizers are often almost as recognizable as those remembered: Ossie Davis (for Nina Simone), Ned Rorem (for Leonard Bernstein) and in a weirdly perfect combination, Neil Tenant of the Pet Shop Boys for Dusty Springfield.

Furthermore, amid the schmaltz, many of the eulogies really can be uplifting; depending on the dead person, they're all the more so for their wry observations and admission of human flaws.


JUDY ARGINTEANU

[Being boring]

What does Neil's say for Dusty?

[trussy74]

It was printed in Literally. Very lovely it was too.

[Naughty Zoot]

Alas, I'm not a Fan club member so I missed seeing it in Literally. I did find a copy of the book @ a Borders nearby so I'm going to stop there today & buy it.

[geowayne]

I checked it out at our local Barnes & Noble, and I noticed that the author/editor consistently misspells Neil's surname as "Tenant" wherever it appears. Very sloppy. Still, it's an interesting book, and it's wonderful that Neil's eulogy for Dusty was chosen for inclusion.