EVERYBODY LOVES READING a good “obit”. Tales of lives lived well, or disgracefully, are always interesting, which is why thousands of readers each day turn first to the obituary pages of the Times and the Telegraph. They may chortle, though the most vivid tributes often involve men and women who performed remarkable feats in times of conflict and then slipped gently back into civilian life.
The modern obituary was shaped by Hugh Massingberd of the — “Massivesnob”, to the mockers of . He did not invent the
