Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death®

Death Cafe Sugar Skull DonutsWelcome to the Albuquerque Death Cafe

The objective of the Death Cafe is “To increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.”  It’s all about an interesting, unstructured conversation – open and free-flowing with no specific agenda.

ABQ Death Cafe Schedules

When the pandemic took hold in March, 2020, Albuquerque Death Cafes began to be held online on Zoom. The format proved to be popular, not only with people in New Mexico, but also for those across the U.S. and around the world. As pandemic restrictions have eased, in-person conversations are back. 

ABQ Death Cafe artGail Rubin has teamed with death educator Jane Westbrook and Kelly Saindon, MCSW, LSP, to hold a monthly in-person Albuquerque Death Cafe at the First Unitarian Church the first Saturday afternoon of each month. The event takes place in the Arnold Room from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 3701 Carlise Blvd. NE

The ABQ Death Cafe offers a relaxed, confidential and safe setting to discuss death, drink tea (or your favorite beverage) and eat delicious cake or cookies. We also provide options for those avoiding gluten and added sugar. To RSVP for any of the Death Cafe events, online or in-person, join the ABQ Death Cafe Meetup Group here.

Join The Meetup Group

The best way to keep in the loop on upcoming Death Cafes is to join the Albuquerque Death Cafe Meetup group. Click here to go to the Meetup page.

Your Death Cafe Host

Gail Rubin, humorous motivational speaker for hospice

Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®

Albuquerque Death Cafes are hosted by Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist, and a pioneering death educator. Rubin is a public speaker, a published author of four books on end-of-life issues, host of a TV interview series and podcast, a blogger, a funeral industry trade journalist, a Certified Funeral Celebrant, and an innovator in the funeral business. She created a conversation-starting game called Newly-Dead® The Game, introduced the Death Café movement in the United States, and held the first Before I Die Festival west of the Mississippi in 2017. Albuquerque Business First named her one of their 2019 Women of Influence.

About Death Cafes

The Death Cafe concept was started in the United Kingdom by Jon Underwood. He was influenced by the ideas of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, who started holding Cafe Mortel events in France and Switzerland. At these events, people come together in a relaxed, confidential and safe setting to discuss death, drink tea (or your favorite beverage) and eat delicious cake or cookies.

Jon Underwood

Jon Underwood, founder of the Death Cafe movement

Sadly, Jon Underwood, founder of the Death Cafe movement, died suddenly at the age of 44 from a brain hemorrhage caused by undiagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. The news was reported by his family on the Death Cafe website. News obituaries appeared in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The Death Cafe Movement Grows

Jon’s mother Sue Barsky Reid and Jon’s sister Jools Barsky continue his Death Cafe work, as Jon requested. To date, the Death Cafe movement has grown to more than 17,230 events in 8y countries worldwide (as of December, 2023). For information on how to hold a Death Cafe in your community, review the information at www.DeathCafe.com. Albuquerque was the site of the second Death Cafe held in the United States. Gail Rubin hosted this pioneering event in September of 2012. Lizzy Miles held the first Death Cafe outside the U.K. in Columbus, Ohio in August of 2012.

Death Cafe News Coverage

To get better acquainted with the Death Cafe concept, visit DeathCafe.com or read these articles below:

Video with Jon Underwood about Death Cafes

Open to Hope YouTube Video

Here’s an interview with Gail Rubin by Dr. Heidi Horsley with the Open to Hope Foundation. 

Gail Rubin: Death Cafe

A Good Goodbye