Thanks to Ralph Lowell Coleman, Jr., I can happily share here more cemetery related books which offer educational and interesting reading:
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The American Resting Place, (Four Hundred Years of History Through Our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds), by Marilyn Yalom, Houghton Mifflin Company, NY, 2008, 336 pgs.
Beautiful black & white glossy photos, taken by her son, Reid, included. The book is exceptionally good reading, packed with interesting cemetery information gleaned from their four years or so of crisscrossing the USA. Here's one direct quote, lifted from "Solidarity in the Cemetery," Chapter 3, page 36: "An inspiring project has been taking place in the rural countryside of eastern Texas, at the Love Cemetery, abandoned in the early 1960s. This two-acre burial ground disappeared beneath wisteria vines and wild mustang grapes, and for almost forty years afterward, the people who bought the land wouldn't grant access to the members of the African-American community whose relatives were buried there. After prolonged legal struggles, the descendants were allowed to visit the graveyard, and working with black, white, Native American, and Latino volunteers, they were able to uncover the stones of their ancestors. Using machetes, clippers, and their hands, the volunteers removed the undergrowth and ultimately, in August 2004, reconsecrated the burial ground with an interfaith cemetery. This experience provides a model for the kind of community action that builds bridges across ethnic and religious divisions."
Rest In Peace (A History of American Cemeteries) by Meg Greene, Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, 2008, 110 pgs.
Thin, graphically appealing, well-written book. from "Epilogue: Saving the American Cemetery, 1960-Present," pg. 84. "
Benjamin Franklin once said, 'Show me your cemeteries, and I will tell you what kind of people you have.'
and finally, a book which everyone who intends to die should read:
The Funeral Book (An Insider Reveals How to Save Money and Reduce Stress While Planning A Funeral) by Clarence W. Miller, Robert D. Reed Publishers, San Francisco, 1994, 75 pgs.
With conviction, some humor, and facts this guy "tells it like it is" when it comes to planning for your demise on a budget. He makes some very valid points, while grinding his personal axes. Chapter 5 was very interesting: "What Happens At the Cemetery Before You Get There and After You Leave." Here's an example from pg. 32: "People have always heard of being buried under six feet of earth. Think again. Most cemeteries have only 18 inches of earth over the top of the burial receptacle. Some are known to have even less..."
I didn't know researching could be such fun!
Got to rush back to it.
Ralph
