Grave, where is thy victory? I think I owe some of you an apology for last month’s blog. The title, Tribute to Doctor Smith , gave at least one friend of Bob Smith a fright, since such tributes generally follow after a death. She was relieved to see from the third paragraph that Bob is still going strong. I remarked later that I feel we should show our appreciation of friends and colleagues while they are alive. So: sorry about that. The trip to Atlanta was a success, and it was great to see Bob and Irina again. This got me thinking that the subject of mortality has been rather high in my consciousness for the last year or so, presumably partly due to the prostate cancer diagnosis (all OK there, I’m relieved to announce). And it occurred to me that a death can be associated with rather incongruous and seemingly unimportant issues. Let me tell you a story. I have mentioned before my dad’s rich uncle, Dan Flynn, a successful Glasgow bookie, and his sister Josephine and her ...