It has been argued that not only are elephants aware that they will die (an awareness very few creatures possess), but that they actually have and practice death rituals. Cynthia Moss has…
March 5, 2014 | Blog
Well, gosh darn if this isn’t a brutal thing to write. Who wants to be a crusher of dreams? Creating dreams is obviously way more fun. I get a lot of messages…
March 4, 2014 | Blog
Well, turns out that you’re all grade-A weirdos. Can’t say I’m surprised. I’d expect nothing less. My first book (%^!!&(&#(&$@!) became available for pre-order this Sunday. Everyone from my childhood best friend…
February 20, 2014 | Blog
There is a lot of death in film, ranging from the maudlin (Love Story) to the quirky (Harold and Maude) to the existential (The Seventh Seal). While I love a good romance,…
February 11, 2014 | Blog
This is my cat, The Meow. Before she came to live with me seven years ago, The Meow was a show cat, a grand champion, in fact. Her real name is Kauai…
January 26, 2014 | Blog
Happy 2014, deathlings! Here’s to the coming year, filled with awareness of our inevitable mortality. To begin, I want to explain my absence for most of 2013 (or, The Year that Time…
January 7, 2014 | Blog
When cemetery maven Loren Rhoads asked me what my favorite cemetery was, I had to take a moment, because that’s some Sophie’s Choice s*%t right there. How does a mother chose between…
December 5, 2013 | Morbid Travel
My roommate is the best, guys. Not only is she a sex therapist, meaning we live in Ye Ol’ Haus of Eros & Thanatos, she also gives a good gift. This Yule-season,…
November 27, 2013 | Blog
Meet my friend Zoe Feldman. When Zoe was 27 years old, the woman who had been everything from a significant other, to romantic partner, to friend, died unexpectedly in her sleep. In…
November 22, 2013 | Blog
Marc Sacks is a biomedical engineer in South Africa. His first piece for the Order is about meeting a room of 80 medical school cadavers.
October 28, 2013 | Blog
Claire has a terminal illness. Today she wrote me an email to say she finds the tone of the Order of the Good Death offensive, because she herself does not find anything…
October 28, 2013 | Blog
For the past four months, 59 Chicago-area funeral directors and drivers have been locked out of their funeral homes by the corporation that owns them, Texas-based Service Corporation International, or SCI. You…
October 23, 2013 | Blog