EDITOR’S LETTER

With TV Guide Editor Julie Eley

Death is a funny old business with grief bringing out the best and worst in us. As we struggle to come to terms with loss, our behaviour often becomes totally irrational. We bicker and battle for family keepsakes while laughing over the memories that old photographs bring flooding back. I take my hat off to the funeral homes who have to deal with this roller coaster of emotions all the time, especially ones like Tipene Funerals who featured in last year’s The Casketeers (story page 6). Husband-and-wife funeral directors Francis and Kaiora Tipene return to our screens this week to once again shine a spotlight on death and the many misconceptions surrounding it. For such a sombre subject it’s a fun and strangely uplifting show. Someone once said, “Everyone wants to get to heaven but no one wants to die”. Well when we do, it’s nice to think there are people like the Tipenes helping us along the way. julie.eley@stuff.co.nz