Here was my father, the brand new country undertaker, thrown in at the deep end of a funeral at least three times larger than he would have liked and probably the main reason I was sitting in the passenger seat of the Essex, wearing long pants, the only white shirt I owned and one of my father’s dark ties.
When Mick Eames moved his family to Holbrook in the 1940s, it was to pursue his career as a spare parts man, not to become the town undertaker. Soon though, his entrepreneurial skills came to the fore and he became first the local taxi owner and then the funeral director.
Jim Eames’ recollections of his father’s years as a country undertaker are candid, humorous and entertaining. Mick Eames’ story is at times funny, at others poignant and at all times gently honest. People who have lived in the country will recognise some of the characters, even without having ever visited Holbrook.
An enjoyable read.
The Country Undertaker, by Jim Eames
Allen & Unwin, 2005