Alexandra Kathryn Mosca — Exploring Life and Death: A Writer's Journey

Gardens of Stone

They are found in tiny parcels of land squeezed among Manhattan buildings and in large rolling tracts of land in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. New York City’s cemeteries carry on the ancient tradition of memorializing the dead with monuments, from plain gray markers to imposing crypts. Whatever their size, they tell the story of the city’s evolution – it’s triumphs, tragedies and setbacks – as it became a global capital.

From the 17th century, when the Dutch created a cemetery near present-day Wall Street, New York City has been home to some of the nation’s most intriguing and famous burial grounds, from the pocket-sized Jewish burial ground of Shearith Israel to the hundreds of acres making up the majesty of Green-Wood and Woodlawn cemeteries.

Gardens of Stone takes you on a walk through these memorial parks, guiding you through works of art cast in stone, from small solitary monuments to some of the country’s most grand mausoleums.

Green-Wood Cemetery

For generations, Green-Wood Cemetery has played an integral part in New York City’s cultural history, serving as a gathering place and a cultural repository. Situated in the historic borough of Brooklyn, the thousands of graves and mausoleums within the cemetery’s 478 acres are tangible links and reminders to key events and people who made New York City and America what it is today. The monuments read like a who’s who of American greatness and include the names of Leonard Bernstein, F.A.O. Schwarz, Charles L. Tiffany, Samuel Morse, and DeWitt Clinton, among others. A national historic landmark since 2006, Green-Wood is considered one of the preeminent cemeteries in the country and is a living display of the evolving funeral traditions of the city and America as a whole. The cemetery was and remains one of the city’s largest open green spaces and a century ago was a social venue for picnics, outings, and political events. Through vintage photographs, Green-Wood Cemetery chronicles the cemetery’s rich history and documents how its tradition as a park and a popular tourist attraction continues, drawing 300,000 visitors annually.

Grave Undertakings

Grave Undertakings was my first book.

From Amazon: “These days, with enrollment in mortuary schools equally divided between men and women, most forget that female funeral directors were once a rarity. While the public face of funeral service was slow to change, when it did there was nobody more public than Alexandra Kathryn Mosca. Detouring from her chosen path to become a writer, Mosca found funeral service. Or, more accurately, funeral service found her. Grave Undertakings is a memoir of Mosca’s singularly unique career. “

The book traces my career path from my earliest days in funeral service when I worked as a receptionist in a funeral home in Queens, New York, while attending college. It was there that I witnessed my first embalming, an indelible experience and one I chronicled in great detail in the book.

My experiences in a New York City mortuary school –where the class practiced embalming on the unclaimed bodies in Bellevue Hospital’s morgue –are equally comprehensive. Included are accounts of the dark days of the tragedies of Sept. 11th and Flight 587, balanced by the spectacle that was the funeral of Mob boss John Gotti. I also share a rare glimpse into the private world of Playboy magazine. My pictorial in Playboy set the industry abuzz and for a time seemed to spell doom for my career. Instead, my career continued to flourish, and my writing career was born.

In many ways, Grave Undertakings is as relevant today as it was when it was first published for those interested in learning about a career as a funeral director.

Funerals of the Famous (Vol.7)

The lives and deaths of the famous hold a special intrigue for people worldwide. In this latest addition in the Funerals of the Famous series, you’ll find stories of some of the most memorable personalities in history. With photographs and thoroughly researched profiles, Funerals of the Famous Volume 7 showcases the colorful details of each individual’s death, funeral service and burial.

From “the voice of an angel,” Whitney Houston, whose homegoing was televised for all the world to see, to the 10 days of national mourning for anti-apartheid hero and former South Africa president Nelson Mandela, the celebration of their lives – and their legacies – continues on.

My profiles in this volume include:

• Mario Cuomo
 Joan Rivers
• Ed Koch