[Vwoolf] NYTimes: Why Are There Almost No Memorials to the Flu of 1918?

Sarah M. Hall smhall123 at yahoo.co.uk
Thu May 14 07:59:28 EDT 2020


 We have the same on the BBC in the UK: often featuring deaths of NHS or other frontline workers. The other day, disturbingly, a railway worker who was spat on by a passenger claiming to have Covid-19 (this is an offence and is under investigation). Whether he did or not, a few weeks later she had died.
As the numbers rise, I've noticed that reporters have to remind us that each of the 'statistics' affects at least one family. It made me think of VW's remark about the numbers ceasing to be meaningful in wartime: there were too many to contemplate.



    On Thursday, 14 May 2020, 12:30:53 BST, Ellen Moody via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:  
 
 One of things I've noticed is how little commemoration or memorials there have been of who has died in this pandemic. During wars we get a plethora of lists of who died; remember how Cronkite used to have a list of who died today in Vietnam.  Judy Woodruff on PBS does that.  I saw one ceremony in Spain and it was broken up by authorities as defying the quarantine.
The only place I have seen this is on PBS: every three or so nights, Judy Woodruff remembers three or four people. She is careful to include ordinary non-heroes, non high ranking people; indeed most of her portraits are of non-famous people.  She has a photo of the person, tells the story of their occupation, a little of their life (as told by the family) and then family and friends. The loss is not just to the person dead but to those whom this person meant a lot to in their lives. I've thought one reason for this silence is there are no general statistics put out by any central authority telling the names and a little about the people who died today. No central sources. 
People do not like to talk of sickness, illness and then real deaths from sickness. Perhaps Susan Sontag deals with this on her book on illness as a metaphor.
Ellen
On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 6:34 AM Kllevenback via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

My first instinct was to send this to Jane and Elizabeth—but then I reconsidered.

Stay safe, be well—
Karen Levenback

Why Are There Almost No Memorials to the Flu of 1918?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/business/1918-flu-memorials.html?referringSource=articleShare


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