death
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My Life as a Funeral Director: Embracing the Unspoken
I’ve been reading through old funeral trade magazines lately, flipping through interviews with funeral directors who’ve written books about their careers — mostly self‑published, some genuinely compelling, others… less so. As I read, I found myself thinking about my first book. When it came out, it felt groundbreaking — though I didn’t fully realize that…
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How I Became the “Cemetery Writer”
Today seems like the ideal day to explain how I became known as a cemetery writer. Early on in my career as a funeral director, I learned some essential lessons: the value of rituals, the deep need to say goodbye, the illusion of closure, and the importance of a lasting memorial. In my interactions with…
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Westchester in Repose
Some of my favorite cemeteries are located in New York’s Westchester County. They are cemeteries I return to again and again. In the July issue of American Cemetery & Cremation magazine, I featured several of them in an article. Impresario Florenz Ziegfeld is buried in Kensico Cemetery with his second wife, actress Billie Burke, who famously played…