Burning down the house

Devender Ghai is in court today seeking to establish whether open-air cremation is legal in this country (maybe so - but burial is better, environmentally speaking). However, it gives me a chance to mention a real lost hero of radical Wales (and Britain).

Dr William Price (link doesn't get near his polymathic qualities) was one of those ferociously intelligent, charismatic individuals who didn't seek fame or power on the national stage (his books were mostly banned), nor did he use his powers for personal gain, though these days he'd be charging massive sums to people like Cherie Blair. Instead, he mixed his medical skills (he was an early anti-smoking zealot) with self-proclaimed druidic powers. He was an environmentalist, a vegetarian, nudist, free-love enthusiast who named his son Iesu Grist (hope you English-speakers can work that out). When the boy died at 5 months old, Price cremated him and took his day in court, leading to the eventual legalisation of cremation. Price himself was cremated in real Welsh style: on top of two tons of coal (not too long after fathering a child at 92 years old).