Morbid Ink: Field Notes on the Human Memorial Tattoo An Illustrated Lecture with Dr. John Troyer, Deputy Director, Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath Date: Tuesday July 20th, 2010 Time: 8:00pm Admission: $5 On Tuesday, July 20 I am giving a talk in Brooklyn on memorial tattoos. The talk, Morbid Ink: Field Notes [...]
Cremation Association of North America (CANA) and International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories (IAOPCC) Announce new Guidelines for Pet Cremation Press Release, March 2010 Pet cremation is big business for human funeral homes looking to branch out into other industries. And normally I wouldn’t just trot out a press release for a Death Reference [...]
Hindu Wins Northumberland Funeral Pyre Battle BBC News (February 10, 2010) Hindu Man Wins Court Battle for Open-Air Cremation Pyre Matthew Taylor The Guardian (February 10, 2010) It has been a big week for cremation in the UK. On Wednesday, Davender Ghai, a 71-year old Hindu man from Newcastle won a landmark court case on [...]
Samantha asks the Death Reference Desk: A couple relatives and I just had my aunt’s ashes put in ink for a memorial tat. My question is since she was so sick, will there be a transfer or will it be okay since she was cremated? The short answer is: Yes, it’ll be okay. Cremators run [...]
Detroit: Too broke to bury their dead Poppy Harlow, CNNMoney.com (October 1, 2009) This CNN story on Detroit is heartbreaking. The economic situation in Detroit is horrible enough, but this particular dispatch says more about the financial straits of life and death than anything I have seen. Over the summer, the New York Times ran [...]