history
-
Exploring Bridgehampton Cemetery: A Journey Through History
Last weekend, on the way home from a weekend in the Hampton’s, I made a stop at Bridgehampton Cemetery, tucked quietly into the heart of the East. Despite the unseasonably cold April temperatures that had settled over the region, my curiosity—and my love for historical wandering—pulled me toward this quaint burial ground. As I approached…
-
Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill is located in the picturesque village of Oyster Bay on Long Island. It served as the “Summer White House” for President Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, from 1885 until his death in 1919. The site is now a National Historic Site. It features the preserved home of the family…
-
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…
-
Love Stories in Stone: Five Couples, Five Cemeteries
Love stories are not confined to novels or cinema; many of the most enduring are written quietly into the landscapes of our cemeteries. For the February issue of American Cemetery & Cremation magazine, I turned to five couples whose devotion did not end at death but instead reshaped the spaces where they rest. Their monuments—some…
-
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…