If you’ve got burning questions about end-of-life issues you’d like to discuss, tune in online tomorrow, Wednesday June 17, for Qeepr’s second #TalkDeath Roundtable. The event will be carried LIVE on Google+ & YouTube at 3:00 p.m. ET/noon PT. The experts for this online roundtable discussion are myself and Chris Raymond, editor of About.com’s Dying, Funerals and Grief website. More information here.
The June issue of American Funeral Director magazine features an article titled “Media Death vs. Reality” by Lisa Howard-Fusco. While the media provide countless depictions of death, when was the last time you saw a media depiction of a funeral service? I’m quoted extensively throughout the article, and Rick Paskin, co-founder of Funeralwise.com, talks about their TV body count study. Read the article online.
Looking forward to next week’s trip to speak to the members of the New Hampshire Funeral Directors Association at their summer meeting! I’m presenting “Jewish Funeral Traditions” illustrated with movie clips, and we’ll explore perceptions of funeral directors and the history of undertaking in the United States with “The Funeral Director on Film.”
Check out highlights from The Family Plot Blog below and upcoming events. Feel free to call if I can be of assistance – 505.265.7215.
Live long and prosper,
Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®
The Family Plot Blog Highlights
Click on the titles to read the blog post. Review all posts on The Family Plot Blog or review just the Death Cartoons posted on the blog!
How to Fly With Cremated Remains – The latest on TSA checkpoint regulations at the airport.
Book Review: On Grief and Grieving – On Grief & Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler is a classic text which stands the test of time, re-issued for its 10th anniversary.
Discussing Death Cafes with Lizzy Miles – Learn all about the Death Cafe movement on the latest podcast of A Good Goodbye Radio with U.S. Death Cafe pioneers Lizzy Miles and host Gail Rubin on FuneralRadio.com. (The next ABQ Death Cafe is July 11 – see below.)
Upcoming Events and a Humorous Quote
Friday, June 19 Catholic Charities “all hands on deck” staff meeting where Gail Rubin presents “Office Morale in the Movies: Communications and Change.” Using funny film clips about office life from films and TV shows such as Nine to Five, Office Space, Mad Men and Working Girl, Gail will entertain and enlighten employees about on-the-job communications skills.
Susan Sarandon in Elizabethtown
Wednesday, July 8, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Osher Lifelong Learning Institute presentation “The Many Faces of Grief: Mourning in the Movies.” Gail presents film clips that illustrate and lighten the conversation about different grieving styles, length of mourning, disenfranchised grief and other elements of thanatology, the study of death, dying and bereavement. Film clips include Walk The Line, Elizabethtown, A Single Man, Gravity, The Jane Austen Book Club and All That Jazz. $20 fee. Learn more and register at Osher’s web page.
Saturday, July 11, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Albuquerque Death Cafe at Gail Rubin’s home. 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 an interesting, unstructured conversation – open and free-flowing with no specific agenda. 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. RSVP to 505.265.7215 for address and directions. Click for more information about the Albuquerque Death Cafe.
July 29 to August 1 Gail reports on developments at the Cremation Association of North America’s convention and expo in San Diego, CA.
“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” — Winston Churchill