Tag Archives: Deaths Garden Revisited

Death’s Garden contributor: J’aime Rubio

Posted on September 19, 2023 | Leave a comment

​J’aime Rubio was born and raised in California. Besides being a mother of two, she is also an accomplished author and published journalist who has contributed her historical knowledge and investigative research to various newspapers and magazines in both California and Arizona. She is also the host of the new podcast, “Stories of the Forgotten.” Although J’aime spends most of her free time roaming cemeteries and researching the past, she also maintains her website, which links to all of her historical blogs. Her blogs focus on people and places in history, with the hope to give a voice to the voiceless, so that the forgotten will be forgotten no more.

What’s your favorite thing to do in a cemetery?

Finding the graves of the people I research so they are remembered once more. I also love just taking walks in cemeteries as well, because I feel serenity there. Cemeteries are my home away from home.

Tell me about your favorite cemetery.
I have too many cemeteries that I love dearly. I don’t think I can name one particular cemetery I love more than another, but I would have to say it is a close tie between Stockton Rural Cemetery in Stockton and Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. Both are in California.
Is there a cemetery or gravesite you’ve always wanted to visit?
If I could, I would visit my favorite author Richard Matheson’s grave, but unfortunately he was cremated and his ashes are kept private, so it is impossible.
What might your epitaph be?
The poem would be changed to a “SHE” instead of a “he” by James Whitcomb Riley ~She Is Not Dead ~ “I cannot say, and I will not say That she is dead. She is just away. With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand, She has wandered into an unknown land And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be, since she lingers there. And you—oh you, who the wildest yearn For an old-time step, and the glad return, Think of her faring on, as dear In the love of There as the love of Here. Think of her still as the same. I say, She is not dead—she is just away.”
Do you have a favorite song about cemeteries or graveyards?

Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” and the theme from Somewhere In Time by John Barry: I would want that played at my funeral.

Loren again: The contributors to Death’s Garden Revisited put together a playlist of their favorite cemetery songs. You can check it out on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4S0255SPm7grf5NShTbLgT?si=4825e0a61b994bd0

You can treat yourself to a copy of Death’s Garden Revisited:

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Death’s Garden Revisited and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Posted on September 11, 2023 | Leave a comment

Death’s Garden Revisited: Personal Relationships with Cemeteries was a finalist in the Travel/Travel Guide category of this year’s Next Generation Indie Book Awards!

The book Death’s Garden Revisited collects 40 powerful personal essays — accompanied by full-color photographs — to illustrate why people visit cemeteries. Spanning the globe from Iceland to Argentina and from Portland to Prague, Death’s Garden Revisited explores the complex web of relationships between the living and those who have passed before.

Last September, Death’s Garden Revisited came out from Blurb.com in a glorious hardcover edition full of huge, lovely cemetery photos. The colors are exquisite. The edition was everything I’d dreamed of. There’s a preview of it available on Blurb.

I’ve been wanting to create an ebook edition for people who couldn’t afford an expensive art book. I shouldn’t have been surprised that a book crammed with full-color photos would make an enormous ebook. Finally, after many hours of effort and several family crises, Death’s Garden Revisited is now available for preorder on Amazon for the kindle. Check it out here: https://amzn.to/3EzIqws.

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Cemetery Travel news

Posted on June 8, 2022 | Leave a comment

I was completely burnt out by the time the Death’s Garden Revisited Kickstarter ended in April, but I meant to post that not only did the book reach its funding goal, it bypassed it by a factor of five!

The book is in the proofreader’s hands now. Once she finishes with the text, I should be able to finalize the book’s layout and start ordering printer samples. Backers will have their copies on schedule in October.

I’ll post the order link for everyone else once I have the book is ready for preorders.

Other than that, I was a guest on the Curious State podcast, talking about what makes a cemetery a tourist destination. This was a really fun conversation & Doug’s team did a great job putting it together. Here’s the link, if you’ve got 15 minutes to be entertained: https://pod.link/curiousstate/episode/11cc72334c9520361edd8bdb5f6f22ab

I assembled a list of my Top Five favorites for The Best Books about Cemeteries on Shepherd List. Check out my list and let me know if you agree with my choices: https://shepherd.com/best-books/about-cemeteries

Tomorrow I’m giving a talk called “Using Crowdfunding to Support Cemetery Projects” at the virtual portion of the annual Association for Gravestone Studies Conference. I’m excited to share what I learned during my Kickstarter.

I think you can still get tickets for the conference here: https://gravestonestudies.org/conferences/2022-conference

 

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The Kickstarter’s Last Day

Posted on April 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

It’s finally here! Today is the final day of Kickstarter campaign for the cemetery book I’m editing, Death’s Garden Revisited.

At this point, 100 people have backed the project, ensuring that the black & white photos will be upgraded to color, I’ll be able to commission a couple of essays to fill out the book, and there will be more cemetery photos than I originally planned. This book is going to be so beautiful!

Backers are giving me the ability to finish the sequel to my cemetery memoir, Wish You Were Here: Adventures in Cemetery Travel. Everyone who donated — from the $5 level on up — will receive a copy of the new ebook. I am really excited to find out what they think of it.

The best reward — at least in my mind — is that every backer will be thanked inside Death’s Garden Revisited. I’m thrilled to be able to acknowledge their faith in me.

In case you haven’t seen it, this is the video in which I talk about the book:

Sometimes the video embeds get stripped out of the email versions, so you can watch it at this link: https://youtu.be/gxg-Hjh8-bo

This project has been a dream of mine for 25 years. I’m so excited that it’s going to become a reality this year.

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Death’s Garden contributor: Chris LaMay-West

Posted on April 10, 2022 | 1 comment

Chris LaMay-West believes in the power of rock music, poetry, and cats. His work has appeared in numerous venues. A California native, Chris resides in Vermont, where he writes, works for a college, and lives with his wife, two cats, a dog, several chickens, and an unbelievable number of bunnies. You can learn more at https://chrislamaywest.com/.

Chris and I met many years ago at an open mic I hosted for Morbid Curiosity magazine. He wrote for the magazine several times, read at my events, and was really fun to get to know.

His story for Death’s Garden Revisited is about visiting Pension Mountain Cemetery in Berryville, Arkansas, where he has family buried and his grandfather served as caretaker.

What’s your favorite thing to do in a cemetery?

Look for the oldest headstones and struggle to make out the faded legends.

Tell me about your favorite cemetery.

There are some amazing cemeteries in Boston: dates going back to the 1600s and people who you previously thought only existed in textbooks.

Is there a cemetery or gravesite you’ve always wanted to visit?

Yeats and Kerouac are high on my list.

If you have any choice, what would your epitaph be?

He tried to leave it better than he found it.

Do you have a favorite song about cemeteries or graveyards?

“Long Black Veil” comes to mind. You will, of course, not go wrong with the Cash version, but I’d like to also suggest the cover by The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash as well.

Loren again:

I had a lot of fun putting together a playlist of cemetery songs recommended by the Death’s Garden Revisited contributors. You can listen to it here.

I would also love it if you’d check out Death’s Garden Revisited, which is available for preorder on Kickstarter for a few more days. This beautiful book will be full of 40 amazing essays about why visiting cemeteries is important. Check it out — and please consider ordering a copy for yourself: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lorenrhoads/deaths-garden-revisited-relationships-with-cemeteries

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