Other lives help to lift the gloom

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2019/nov/12/other-lives-help-to-lift-the-gloom

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Letter: Giles Oakley appreciates a timeless message in the Guardian’s diverse obituaries

Thank you for your commitment to Other lives, which by turns can be fascinating, entertaining or inspirational, much like the medieval Lives of the Saints. Monday’s crop (11 November) was typically diverse, from the punk-music-loving flu researcher to the folk-dancing radio scientist or the Fleet Street veteran to an amazing community activist, plus the social worker descended from shepherds on the Scottish Borders.

But best of all was the South African artist Cecily Sash, with her beautiful mixed media painting Still Life on a Table (2010). The objects on the table and the enticing forest of white trees in the background are infused with an elemental life force that reminds us that we should all live life to the full and appreciate the beauty in the world around us. A timeless message that shows the value of obituaries, while somewhat lifting the prevailing public gloom.Giles OakleyEast Sheen, London

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