Funeral celebrant out for commentary two celebrants he considered outstanding, Brian McInerney and Rick Barclay. International acknowledgment was provided by a comprehensive article in Time Magazine (September 2004) reporting that in the "liberal" cities of Melbourne (Australia) and Auckland (New Zealand) civil celebrants "conduct substantially more than half of the funerals." It reported that before 1973 only clergy funerals were available to the general public in Australia and New Zealand. The article describes celebrant funerals as "intimate and personalised". But it also cited an alternative point of view by atheist sociologist Mira Crouch who stated that celebrant funerals were "mawkish and sentimental".
A Modern Buccaneer A Modern Buccaneer A Modern Buccaneer (1894) is a novel by Australian writer Rolf Boldrewood. Set in the South Pacific, this novel is written in the form of an autobiography, told by Hilary Telfer. Fascinated by tales of sailors and South Sea Traders, he leaves Sydney at the age of seventeen to take up a life at sea. The novel follows his adventures and provides a commentary on the trade between the islands and the practice of "blackbirding" that was rife at the time. The "buccanneer" of the title is Bully Hayes, an American-born ship's captain, on whose ship Telfer