MEET KATY AND LINDSEY VIGURS: (LIKE TIGERS) These sisters are the founding directors of DEAD GOOD, a not-for-profit, arts-based death education company based in the UK that aims to end taboos around death, dying, and grief. They believe that it is not morbid to speak openly about death and they see honest conversations about death, dying, and grief as the foundation of a healthy society. Before the start of DEAD GOOD, Katy dedicated herself to academia, as a professor and social researcher with expertise in social justice & education, with emphasis on creative approaches to research and public engagement. Katy's counterpart, Lindsey has spent most of her life working as an artist and commercial illustrator for clients such as the BBC. Both talents played a vital role, when in 2018 they began their journey with death education, stroking curiosity around the topic. Holding workshops and activities, getting people to broach death conversations was their humble beginning, but a few years later, the sisters received a tough pill to swallow. Their father, Peter Vigurs was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died one year later in February 2022.
She goes on to describe all of the interesting ways they honored his life, and death, while Peter’s heart was still beating. In fact, Peter took part in his funeral planning, curating the music, poetry, and even commissioned the weaving of a willow coffin by a local artist. The family also took part in numerous legacy projects, such as a memory jar, the creation of a Facebook group to reconnect and reminisce with long lost friends, and recorded interviews to keep the stories alive forever. Another notable project was the ceramic casting and mold of their father‘s hand, so they could continue to high-five after his departure.
During that year, the family worked hard to confront “THIS DEATHWORK WE UNDERTOOK death in the face and make the most of the time that WITH DAD, BEFORE AND AFTER HE was left. Katy recalls, “In many ways, it was an DIED, CONTINUES TO INSPIRE OUR example of a privileged death, in that his death was WORK AT DEAD GOOD EVERY DAY. both expected, supported, and relatively comfortable. WE WANT TO SUPPORT OTHERS TO DO THIS KIND OF DEATH WORK We remain grateful that we had time to talk, plan, WITH THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS“ and prepare as a family, which we know is not possible for everyone.” GET GRIEFY - ISSUE 1 - 2024
