Sinister: Dappers

[David Moore]

Hi All,

Not the kind of event that I thought (hoped) I would ever Report Back on,
but I thought that something should be said about Liz's funeral, which was
held on Friday afternoon outside in the Essex countryside. A very large
number of people attended, comprised of Liz's family & friends, Rob's family
& friends, Liz's friends from Oxford, people from this list* & from the ILE
community.

The proceedings were lead by Liz's uncle, and a lot of sad & wonderful
things were said about Liz or read by her Mum, her Dad, her sister, her
cousin, Rob, Rob's Mum and a couple of Liz's fellow students from St
Hilda's. Jim read a message that Honey had sent. Several pieces of music
were played, reflecting the wide range of Liz's musical talents & interests.
I learned a lot from what was said, how much more talented & special a
person Liz was than I was ever aware of (including oarswoman & rifle shot
amongst her accomplishments!).

The occasion was heartbreaking, to think of Liz being taken from her family
and friends at such an early age, that Rob and her should have spent so few
years together. However, there was also an enormous feeling of love for Liz,
joy at celebrating her life and its achievements and even some humour. The
ceremony was not at all rushed as some such occasions can be, people had
sufficient time for reflection and to express their feelings. The spot
itself is very peaceful, as can be seen from some pictures here
http://www.green-burial.co.uk . Liz is laid to rest in a meadow, under the
eves of a wood which with new planting will eventually extend over the
grave. The wood becomes carpeted with bluebells in the spring and the site
is very tranquil, with no traffic noise and on a rise so that there is a
great view over the green countryside.

Although the occasion was informal I thought it was a great sign of respect
for Liz that not only did so many people attend but also that they had gone
to the trouble of wearing (in some cases acquiring, I think!) dark suits &
ties.

Its a long time since I have seen so many Sinisterines in one place at the
same time and its so sad that they should have been brought together for
this reason - I recall seeing Rob, Marianna, Ken, Ben & Rachel Apps, Archel
& Mr Archel, Ian, Stefano, Robin Stout, Lucy, Ailsa, Cabbage & Miss Vicky,
Mark C & Sarah, Tim, Ally C, Stacey Dahling, Pam, Jim, Lixi & Steve,
Carsmile Steve & Meg, Andy Dean, Starry, Nick.


Apologies for my writing, which is not up to capturing the emotion of the
occasion, and if I have left anyone or anything out that I should have
included.


A lot of tributes have been written to Liz in various places recently - I
hope that the love that Liz inspired in others is some comfort to those
close to her.  Here are a few more things that have come to my mind in the
last few days.

She was such a very talented person, musically as an instrumentalist &
singer, whether as part of or directing a choir or covering Blondie's 'Heart
Of Glass' backed by The Johnny 7 before one of B&S's Astoria gigs a couple
of years ago. I also recall her installation which formed part of an
exhibition at The Roundhouse in 2001 which she described as "a big wibbly
projection type thing" or an "abstract slide thing projected onto a big
piece of perspex" - whatever, even if I wasn't clever enough to understand
its meaning the intellect and ingenuity that had gone into its production
was manifest.

Her kindness, always thinking of others & finding ways to include them, at
picnics bringing loads of food to share, her delicious home baking.

She once wrote “It's our glorious idiosyncracies that mark us as such
wonderful people” and certainly lived up to that herself, signing off
e-mails to me with “Must go make etchings” or talking of going off to
decorate a cake for a friend or to go for a snowball fight.

I will treasure our common enthusiasms, especially for certain artists. We
both love Sodastream and she once spoke of kidnapping Pete & Karl & keeping
them in her cellar to write songs to play for her & her mum - then her
strong practical sense realised that the damp would play havoc with the
tuning of the double bass & her kindness started thinking of providing them
with a little heater.

Her talents ranged even to her very expressive facial, er, expressions,
ranging from the mere arching, asking eyebrow to ones that spoke volumes. I
think that had she been born a few decades earlier she would made a
fantastic actress of the silent era, even giving Lillian Gish a run for her
money. The one that is etched in my mind is the one she greeted Lixi with at
ATP once when Lixi eventually returned from the beach in the early hours
with the chalet key - absolutely terrifying & I am glad it wasn't directed
at me!

I miss her a lot, & I wasn't anywhere near as close to her as others. I wish
her family, Rob and her friends strength to deal with their grief and that a
day will come when the pain of loss is less for them.

I understand that Ken, Marianna & Pam have been in the front line of
supporting Rob over recent days & I wish to thank them for the strength of
their friendship & what they have also had to say & do on behalf of others.

If I have another wish, it is that the tragic circumstances in which Liz met
her end don't result in a permanent increase in fear & prejudice in the
country - for a long period Liz's e-mail signature included the line "Regard
the moon, La lune ne garde aucune rancune".



Love,

David Moore
Chelmsford, UK


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