Talk Back

[malabar]

When it first appeared in 1963, this book caused shock waves in the US funeral industry. While there had been a few exposes written before, none went into such exhaustive detail or proposed alternatives (such as the burial societies).

I was made aware of some of these sharp practices when my mother died fifteen years ago. She had arranged to donate her body to the local medical school, and when she went into her final coma, I started calling around to find out what the procedure was. It turned out I had to arrange to get her from the hospital to the medical school - and apparently this could only be done by a licensed funeral director. I got charged something like $800 for what amounted to a ten-mile taxi ride. Of coursel, this was the funeral parlor's way of assuring that even though they wouldn't get money for a big funeral, they would still get some kind of cut. I only wish I had read this book before having to do that. Read it now, and maybe you can save yourself or those close to you from being fleeced when you're at your most vulnerable.

[shaw]

Del Close (founder of Second City - theater credits to fill a book) had one last wish - he wanted to play the role of Yorick in Hamlet. After he died, they took his skull, and granted his wish. He was even billed on the poster "...and DEL CLOSE as Yorick!"

...and years later it turned out it was not his skull. His executor and all involved did everything they could to obtain his skull, so they could grant his wish, and while they were able to get A skull, all sorts of arcane laws prevented them from getting HIS skull.

I thought that was very sad.