| Subcategories |
 |
Literature & Fiction |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Farewell, Godspeed: The Greatest Eulogies of Our Time
written by Cyrus M. Copeland
Studio : Harmony
by Harmony
Release Date : 2003-12-23
Publisher : Harmony
Released : 2003-12-23
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781400049462
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 11 reviews)
List Price : $18.95
Our Price : $1.18
|
|
| |
|
Product Description |
Farewell, Godspeed is a remarkable collection of eulogies for some of the most notable figures of our time, delivered by the people who knew them best. In the words used to eulogize the great and celebrated men and women of the world—sometimes reverential, sometimes funny, always poignant—we come as close as perhaps we ever will to seeing the warm humanity beneath their public personas.
Cyrus M. Copeland has gathered some of the greatest of these writings about artists, scientists, authors, public servants, entertainers, and others who have captured our attention by making the world a better, or at least a livelier, place. Here is Andy Warhol’s close friend describing Warhol’s hidden spirituality. Albert Einstein’s assistant recounting his humanism. Edward Kennedy remembering with a brother’s tenderness the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Larry McMurtry’s lively and loving tribute to Irving “Swifty” Lazar. And Robert Bernstein, longtime publisher and friend of Dr. Seuss, memorializing him with special, never-before-published verse. Also included are the eulogies of the Challenger astronauts by President Ronald Reagan; Charles Schulz by Cathy Guisewite (creator of the comic strip Cathy); Bette Davis by James Woods; Bob Fosse by Neil Simon; Lucille Ball by Diane Sawyer; Martin Luther King Jr. by Benjamin E. Mays; David O. Selznick by Truman Capote; Karl Marx by Friedrich Engels; and Gianni Versace by Madonna.
In these moving and personal tributes we see at last the vulnerabilities and nuances of character that are often hidden from the spotlight, and the true personalities behind the names we remember. |
| |
|
| |
|
A Spiritual Celebration Perfectly Poised for Baby Boomers |
The idea of reading dozens of eulogies back to back may sound depressing, but it's really a celebration of love, hope, praise and -- surprisingly perhaps -- good humor as well.
Copeland's first collection of 64 eulogies is like a stroll among the brightest lights of the 20th Century, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lucille Ball, Irving Berlin, Robert Frost and Dr. Seuss.
Most of the people delivering the eulogies are as fascinating as the departed -- folks like Bob Hope, Ossie Davis, Eric Idle, Madonna and Phil Donahue.
This book could serve as a two-month, day-by-day inspirational reader. Or, you could go through the book in a small group, reading the chapters in themed sections: visionaries, movie stars, explorers, musicians -- and so on.
Frankly, this is a perfect spiritual book for Baby Boomers as our generation ages -- and we need to summon our collective talent to celebrate the best with us all. |
| |
|
Fascinating and inspirational. |
The title promises "the greatest eulogies of our time", and the book delivers on its promise. Here are some of the eulogies included:
Adlai Stevenson on Eleanor Roosevelt
Bob Hope on Jack Benny
John F. Kennedy on Robert Frost
Fidel Castro on Che Guevara
Friedrich Engels on Karl Marx
John Huston on Humphrey Bogart
Christopher Isherwood on Virginia Woolf
In total, there are 64 eulogies, covering the following (somewhat arbitrarily defined) "categories":
Maestros
Visionaries
Wisecrackers
Captains of Industry
Matinee Idols
Explorers and High Fliers
Tunesmiths and troubadours
Movie Moguls
Wordsmiths
Camelot (eulogies for JFK, Jackie, and JFK Jr.)
The selection is excellent - each entry is an eloquent and inspiring celebration of the life being remembered. And, of course, the book's format makes it ideal for dipping into occasionally - one is unlikely to read through it in a sitting.
This book makes a great companion to "The Dead Beat : Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries", by Marilyn Johnson. |
| |
|
A few nuggets |
First things first. The book is mis-titled. This is not a book of the greatest eulogies of our time. Rather it is a book of eulogies about "great" people.
Copeland has segmented the book into eulogies for Maestros, Visionaries, Wisecrackers, Captains of Industry, Movie Moguls etc. The fact that the eulogized person was exceptional in their life does not guarantee an exceptional eulogy. Indeed, many of them consist of pretty ordinary prose.
However, it is still an interesting and useful book. Hopefully, you will not be called on to do a eulogy too soon, but if you are, Farewell Godspeed is a good resource to help you craft those words.
My favorite eulogies contain some lovely humor which I believe is important for a good memorial. James Woods words for Bette Davis contain some memorable anecdotes and portray a real sense of what this lady was about. Larry Gelbart's eulogy for Jack Lemmon is full of obvious love.
"(I)n his personal life, Jack had almost no range at all. Throughout the whole of it, year after year, he was simply unfailingly terrific - displaying merely shades of marvelous. Being predictably thoughtful. Endlessly caring. Instinctively kind."
The eulogy to Albert Einstein by Ernst Straus, friend and assistant, captures the archetypical "mad scientist" Einstein. It is funny, it is moving and again like Gelbart's words, full of love.
A useful reference book, but I do believe that many of the greatest eulogies of our time will never get published. These eulogies have been delivered by your friends, by your neighbors about their loved ones, about their friends and their neighbors. Ordinary people speaking about people who touched their hearts, but for them, not in an ordinary way. Eulogies which have been delivered from the heart with the speaker never wondering what the media will be saying about the speech the next day.
|
| |
|
Sixty four choice examples of eloquent eulogies |
I am not inclined to agree with the sub-title of "Farewell, Godspeed" that these are indeed "The Greatest Eulogies of Our Time," simply because I think there are so many eloquent farewells given to loved ones who have passed away that never see the light of day. But that hardly detracts from the point of Cyrus M. Copeland's collection, which serves as a potent reminder of a neglected art form by providing sixty four examples from the past century.
Of the sixty four the one that will be recognized and remembered by most readers in President Ronald Reagan's eulogy for the "Challenger" astronauts, a most atypical eulogy in that it was probably the one written the quickest, delivered the same day that the shuttle exploded before the television cameras of the nation. Older readers might recall Chief Justice Earl Warren's remarks following the death of President John F. Kennedy, but clearly you will be reading almost all of these sixty four eulogies for the first time.
These eulogies are collected into sections representing the vocation of the dearly departed. Copeland has sections on Maestros like Isadora Duncan and Andy Warhol, Visionaries from Susan B. Anthony to Ryan White, Wisecrackers from Lucille Ball to Charles Schulz, Captains of Industry such as Henry Ford, Matinee Idols from Humphrey Bogart to River Phoenix, Explorers & High Flyers in the mode of Amelia Earhart and Timothy Leary, Tunesmiths & Troubadours from Irving Berlin to George Harrison, Movie Moguls like David O. Selznick, Wordsmiths from Emily Dickinson to Dr. Seuss, and a final section devoted to the eulogies for the three principal figures of America's Camelot. Clearly, our time extends beyond this century when we go back to Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, which is another reason to take the sub-title with a grain of salt. But it is not like a century or two ago people talked about death in ways that we cannot understand today.
After each eulogy Copeland provides a brief time line for the historic figure who was the subject of the eulogy. For some of these figures it may be helpful to read these biographic outlines before the speeches, especially if you have no idea as to the identity of a Quentin Crisp, David Ogilvy, or Irving "Swifty" Lazar.
Some of the speakers who gave (or wrote) these eulogies will be familiar to the reader as well. Madonna writing about Gianni Versace, Bob Hope speaking about Jack Benny, Garrison Keillor eulogizing Chet Atkins, and Orson Welles on Darryl F. Zanuck, for example. One figure who is eulogized, John F. Kennedy, delivers a eulogy of his own for the poet Robert Frost.
To my surprise my favorite eulogies were the ones that managed to bring humor to the situation. Just the idea of Monty Python's Eric Idle giving the eulogy for George Harrison of the Beatles has to bring a smile to your face. That does not mean that you cannot be smiling through the tears, as is the case when fellow cartoonist Cathy Guisewite shares memories of the man she called Sparky and that the world knew as the creator of "Peanuts," Charles M. Schulz. There is also something to be said for eulogies given by family members, even when the subject is famous and the sibling is not.
Certainly there are examples that come to my mind that I could argue should be included, from Margaret Thatcher's words on the passing of Ronald Reagan, to Bill Clinton's eulogy for Richard Nixon, and the two speeches Robert F. Kennedy gave following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Copeland includes two eulogies by the man who fate has called upon to delivery more than his fair share of such speeches, Ted Kennedy, but not the one he gave for his brother Bobby, which remains his most memorable. The way that speech contrasts with the eulogies given for his nephew, John Kennedy, Jr., and his sister-in-law, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, would be insightful.
However, in the final analysis Copeland's collection is inspirational, specifically in the sense of showing how various speakers have responded to this particular rhetorical situation. In that regard the most public examples of such discourse, delivered in the wake of the death of the most prominent citizens, can readily be seen as being beyond the scope of most funeral orations.
"Farewell, Godspeed" is an excellent book to loan to a friend or family member who has to deliver a eulogy, for it will show the range and scope of what can be done (I say "loan" because that strikes me as being more appropriate than giving it as a gift under such circumstances). Certainly within these sixty four farewells there will be speeches, or specific passages, that resonant and can inspire the expression of similar thoughts. Even in grief, there can be moments of profound eloquence.
|
| |
|
Bedtime Reading |
|
You'll read this book slowly. If you want to savor each of the imaginative, evocative portraits of 20th century legends. As with a batch of homemade chocolate cookies, better to consume just a few each night with a warm glass of milk. And then fall asleep and dream of what you want to become. The inspiration is ineluctable. |
| |
|
|
|
