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| Miriam Burbank, posed in death as she loved to be in life. [Photo by Percy McRay, via Reuters] |
When will the dead outnumber the living on Facebook? As early as 2065. Via Mashable, Sylvan Lane gives us a thorough, comprehensive, and user-friendly guide to what happens to you digitally after your death.
DEATH
In Psychology Today, Sheila Kohler wonders about our denial of death
From Parenthood magazine, a list of books that my help children come to terms with death
In Hong Kong, fear of death decreases and taboos fall as discussion and information increase, according to Jasmine Siu in The Standard
Demystifying death: USA Today's Dan Reimold talks to Erika Hayasaki, author of the new book "Death Class: A True Story about Life"
From Foreign Policy magazine, Anna Nemtsova meditates on the death of two fellow journalists in the war zone of Ukraine
Mortician Jennifer Mairo Akporehe makes a mission statement
In Australia, a terminally ill man campaigns for the right for people to choose how and when they die -- from Michael Short of The Age
The Canadian Medical Association hears from both sides on the right-to-die issue, via the CBC
Andy Campbell, HuffPo Crime Editor, discusses how police departments can get reporters out of their faces during deadly shootings. The short answer: information and transparency.
Mike D., the A-Unicornist, gives an eloquent atheist perspective on the consciousness of impending death
In Oregon, hospices attempt to negotiate a relationship with that state's Death with Dignity laws -- from Christen McCurdy of the Lund Report
FUNERAL HOMES
Chris Radomile and T. Addams get brutally honest about "5 Horrifying Truths about Funeral Homes (from an Undertaker)" in Cracked
In Venezuela, too many bodies, not enough coffins --via Girish Gupta of Reuters
From Crystal Chow in Sensa Nostra, a mortician's confession
Can you become a Certified Funeral Celebrant? From the Isanti County News
Undertaker Ken McKenzie has a new, "morbidly humorous" new book out concerning his profession -- interview by Ashley Fowler of the Long Beach Signal Tribune
In South Africa, an undertaker is charged with mutilation after sawing off a corpse's legs to make it fit into its casket -- via IOL News.
Philadelphia-area funeral director finds community opposition to the construction of a crematorium, despite a vastly increased demand for the procedure in recent years -- by Ben Finley of the Philadelphia Inquirer
In West Virginia, the indigent will continue to be buried, despite the state running out of funds to pay for it -- story by Greg Jordan of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Tim Wynkoop of Lehigh Valley Live reports on a funeral home's commission of a chopper-driven hearse
From the Daily Mail: Sarah Dean and Louise Cheer report on a funeral home director forced to keep a corpse in her car overnight with the air conditioning on
MOURNING
Fredrica Duke plans her own funeral in HuffPo -- it's a doozy
Larry Mayer's moving memorial to his father in the Jewish Daily Forward
Funerary and mourning traditions in Kuwait from Expat and the City
In Swaziland, a movement to reduce the traditional three-year mourning period for widows; by Sandile Nkambule in the Swazi Observer
In Brain Pickings, Maria Popova reviews Meghan O'Rourke's memoir of grieving her mother's death, "The Long Goodbye"
MISC
In the midst of life: The Wooster Group's Liz LeCompte runs into death on her way back to a party
"Saving lives in death" -- Annie Sciacca of the Petaluma Argus-Courier reports on postmortem organ donation
From the Times of India: Youth beaten to death by mob for posting obituary posters on marriage hall