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No Casket, No Flowers subscriber-only content

Thomas Lynch

  • Committed to the Cleansing Flame: The Development of Cremation in 19th-Century England by Brian Parsons  Buy this book

Mostly I remember the quick pearlescent cloud, the puff of white it made in the rush of current, when I dumped Hughey’s ashes in the water. And watching what remained of him disappear downstream, I thought of the masked man riding off at the end of that cowboy show I watched as a boy: ‘A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver! The Lone Ranger!’

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Thomas Lynch is a writer and funeral director. Booking Passage: We Irish and Americans came out last year.

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