by Lewis, Dan
For more than a decade, Frits did this all by himself. Then in 2002, a poet named Frank Starik asked if he could get involved. Starik believed that the recently passed deserve eulogies, even if they don’t have friends, and he offered to compose poems for each. Frits appreciated the added dignity that Starik could bring, and suddenly, the two were partners in bringing solemnity to those who would otherwise meet a quiet, unnoticed end.
Today, the pair is known in Amsterdam as Stichting De Eenzame Uitvaart—the Lonely Funeral Foundation. They’ve started something of a movement. In other cities in the Netherlands and Belgium, volunteers are mimicking Frits and Starik’s work, bringing music and poetry to those in their areas who died without friends or relatives.
BONUS FACT
In 2007, a forty-five-year-old Bosnian man named Amir Vehabovic died. His funeral only had one attendee—his mom. Normally this wouldn’t be interesting—that stuff probably happens more than you’d think—except that Vehabovic wasn’t really dead. He suspected that his friends didn’t really like him, so he faked his own death (bought a fake death certificate, bribed the undertakers, procured an empty coffin) to see if they cared enough to send their last respects. They didn’t.
Copyright © 2014 by Dan Lewis.
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