When a loved one dies, family members often find some way to commemorate their memory. So it was with one grieving widower in Quedgeley, Gloustershire, UK. After his wife of 49 years died, Ray Holmes released a book of romantic poems, with the local church agreeing to sell his book to raise money for charity. A typically heart-warming tale of enduring love and community support for a bereaved pensioner. Or so it seemed, until parishioners took a closer look at Ray’s poems. Of the 300 poems in his book only one related to his recently deceased wife. The other 299 were dedicated to the wife of Mr Holmes's best friend, with whom he had become infatuated following his bereavement. The one poem in the collection that actually refers to the author's deceased wife concludes with the none-too-flattering couplet: "It happened so quietly this stamp of approval/Perhaps in time we can call in the removal." The anthology has now been withdrawn from sale, although someone has suggested they erect a sign in the church bookshop explaining: "This book has no place in a house of God/Because it was written by a dirty old sod."
Source: Reported in Gloustershire Echo News, cited at Guardian Unlimited,
March 17, 2000
Applications: infidelity, adultery, lust