Every now and then, there’s a surge of news related to death and funerals. The past few weeks, we’ve seen these news stories that you may find of interest.
- “The funeral as we know it is becoming a relic – just in time for a death boom” Washington Post reporter Karen Heller interviewed me for this story, and I gave her a lot of information and contacts. It’s an engaging overview of changes in the funeral business as people move toward colorful celebrations of life. Unfortunately, I’m not cited in the story.
- “Welcome to the Departure Lounge. Destination: Death” This story in The Guardian focuses on a shopping center-based Departure Lounge, where visitors can ask any questions they might have about the dying process. The brainchild of the Academy of Medical Sciences, whose mission is to promote biomedical and health research, collect ideas and experiences that could inform future research.
- “Washington set to be the first state to allow the composting of human bodies” This Slate.com story looks at the passage of legislation that would allow body composting as a disposition method. It also covers pro and con reactions to the concept.
- “Luke Perry was Buried in an ‘Eco-Friendly’ Mushroom Suit, His Daughter Says” According to this story in The Huffington Post, the late “Beverly Hills, 90210” star was buried on a family farm in Tennessee after he suffered a fatal stroke in March. The mushroom burial suit is designed to remove polluting toxins from the body and naturally speed the process of decomposition.
I interviewed Coieo’s founder and CEO Jae Rhim Lee about this when she first introduced the suit at the ICCFA convention and expo in 2016. She first told the world about her Mushroom Burial Suit in a 2011 TED talk. Here’s the video from the ICCFA convention:
That’s the latest news roundup from the fringes of funeral developments!