Pinter family bids farewell to master of drama
Michael Thurston
LONDON (AFP) - Harold Pinter's family bade farewell to the late Nobel-prize winning playwright Wednesday at a simple, private funeral service -- with arrangements directed by the writer himself, in advance.
Fellow thespians including actor Michael Gambon and dramatist Tom Stoppard joined some 50 guests gathered for the 15-minute ceremony in a London cemetery, a week after Pinter's death from cancer on Christmas Eve.
"And so I say to you, tender the dead as you would yourself be tendered, in what you would describe as your life," he read from the master dramatist's work, standing under a tree in the cold London air.
No prayers were said during the service, which included poetry reflecting Pinter's love of cricket. Fraser, his second wife, was dressed in a white hat and black outfit.
Pinter, whose best-known plays included "The Birthday Party", "The Dumb Waiter" and "The Homecoming," died on December 24 at the age of 78, having suffered from cancer for a number of years.
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Image Micheal gambon