Memorials Books

When Death Occurs is a step-by-step manual that shows you how to pre-plan for a personalized funeral, memorial, cremation, even body donation. Rather than fish through lots of unnecessary information, you can go directly to the chapters that relate to your personal wants. The book tells you how to save [$], whether you choose to use a funeral home or plan a memorial yourself. Reigle focuses on personalization and planning a memorial that is meaningful and memorable to your family and friends.
I've decided that I wanted a really memorable memorial for myself, but without the financial burden for my loved ones. I looked into the available books on funerals, and none on the market tell you how to plan and save money for what YOU want. Rather take the philosophical route on what is the "best" way to go (burial, cremation, body and tissue donation, etc), Reigle chooses instead to let the consumer decide what is right for them and give step-by-step instructions on how to save money and still get what they want.
I've also heard that Reigle does some pretty great personalized "pre-planning" workshops to accompany the book; there's info to schedule one included in the book. I'm currently trying schedule one for my senior group.

This book is by far the best protection a person can have during times of suffering and grief. People will try to take advantage of others at all times, especially when experiencing the loss of a loved one. This book allows a person to familiarize themselves to the funeral processes by giving guidelines to follow during the most important decision-making process. Everyone should have this book in their family.

"As men, we are all equal in the presence of death." ~Publilius Syrus

I would recommend this book to prepare for your own funeral or as a way to help family members pre-plan their own funerals. There is a "Quick Reference for Those Who Face the Death of a Loved One." In the midst of grief, this book could also help you quickly select various services and methods of burial before arriving at the funeral home.

This is a book for people who are worried about "Death Care Professionals" taking advantage of them. The information in this book will encourage a more frugal approach.

John M. Reigle is an advocate for consumer rights in the funeral industry. He believes people should examine all their options and create a more meaningful service for the living, with less emphasis on caskets, urns and vaults.

While reading, you will discover:

1. The services provided by a funeral home should also include finalizing details after the funeral. I was amazed at all the details that can be taken care of by the funeral home.
2. The wide variety of funeral service options.
3. Sample Forms and checklists.
4. A Memorial Service Planner.
5. Pros and Cons of each burial situation.
6. Death Certificate Information Worksheets
7. Ways to save $1,000s on caskets. You might want to spend more on the actual service
8. Obituary forms.
9. Ideas on gathering information for a meaningful funeral service.
10. List of Body Donation Programs in the United States.

After reading this book, I can now understand why some family members in the past have chosen not to have funerals and also why some have chosen not to have open caskets.

The Services Presented in this Book Include:

Body Donation/No Service
Body Donation/With Memorial Service
Cremation/No Service
Cremation/With Memorial Service
Cremation/With Funeral Service
Burial/No Service
Burial/With Graveside Service
Burial/With Funeral Service

Once you read some of this information, you will definitely realize that the ways we "protect" the deceased can be less for the deceased's benefit and more for the survivor's benefit. There should still be some dignity in death. For the survivors, and for the deceased.

However, if you are not informed, under duress or don't have the time to compare prices of services, you could be taken advantage of and feel worse than you do already due to added financial burdens. I think this is a straightforward source for information on a wide variety of funeral services.

~The Rebecca Review

When Death Occurs: A Practical Consumer's Guide by consumer rights advocate John M. Reigle is a comprehensive, "user friendly", step-by-step guide to dealing with the practical and financial realities of funerals, memorial services, burials, cremations, and body donation. When Death Occurs is not a guide for dealing with the emotional pain of losing a loved one; it is a specific manual for handling what must be financially and physically necessarily done with respect to burial or cremation matters, concerns, and decisions. Because of its necessary information, enhanced with an abundance of practical advice (including identifying seven alternatives to traditional funerals), which is presented in a no-nonsense manner, When Death Occurs has the highest recommendation and could result in the savings of thousands of dollars of unnecessary, unneeded, or unwanted expenses.

To the extent that most Americans remember Calvin Coolidge, it is for a series of amusing anecdotes concerning his economy with words. That characterization is only partly true. Few people know that Coolidge was one of the last presidents who wrote his own speeches and that he held regular press conferences without a press secretary running interference for him. Coolidge, the son of a general store owner in rural Vermont, was immensely popular and could have easily been renominated had he chosen to run in 1928. There was even a movement to draft Coolidge to accept the nomination in 1932. He declined and his successor, Herbert Hoover, was renominated and defeated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Coolidge had a syndicated newspaper column following his retirement from party politics and he produced a highly readable autobiography that is candid and simple in its approach. Coolidge possessed a sense of humor and he did not take himself too seriously. This brief book should not be dismissed by anyone interested in America during the Twenties. Coolidge's reputation suffered, somewhat unfairly, at the hands of the New Deal historians who sought to promote Roosevelt by denigrating his predecessors. Coolidge was neglected as a historical figure until Ronald Reagan sought to rehabilitate his boyhood hero.

Coolidge is buried in Plymouth Notch, close to the same country cross roads store in which he was born and sworn into office by his own father following the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding.

"The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge" is a fabulous autobiography. Calvin Coolidge was a good man and a good writer, and in his autobiography, Cooidge talks about growing up, his career in law and politics, his family, and everything anybody would want to learn about President Coolidge. People who are interested in becoming President should read Calvin Coolidge's autobiography: Coolidge shared with his readers some duties of the President and what seeking a third term can do to you. How a President is elected has changed since Coolidge's time, but Coolidge became President because of the death of his sucessor, Warren G. Harding. Even though Coolidge shared his opinion, anybody in the White House because of the death of their sucessor should take Coolidge's opinion. Calvin Coolidge was a good man, and there are lessons everyone could benefit from by reading his autobiography.

President Calvin Coolidge was a good man and great President who deserves to remembered for more than his reticence. Read here the life story of the President who grew up learning that hard work and a thoughtful outlook are the keys to success. He cut taxes four times and vetoed agricultural subsidies twice. He was unusually tolerant of minorities for his time. The story of President Coolidge is one that deserves to be read. Conservatives and libertarians will find his story especially appropriate for their children.

Cemeteries are like galleries of the dead, mausoleums and tombstones etched with the intricacy of a sculptor's chisel. Art of the Cemetery is a gorgeous visual journey into some of the most elegant and quaint gravesides around the world. Horror writer Dean Koontz reflects upon mortality while discussing his personal insights about death, and speaks about the sense of quiet charms that permeate cemeteries from New Orleans to tiny cemeteries hidden away in corners of the world. The pictures in the book represent lavish and sometimes forgotten memorials, and serve as ceremonials to the dead, whether the dearly departed are famous graves buried within Paris' Pere Lachaise cemetery or unmarked tombs decorated in simple yet loving care. Many of the tombs are studies in beauty, and photographer David Robinson's pictures paint an ethereal eye over many of the locations, giving testimony to cemeteries as artistic havens of extraordinary form and decadence. Koontz explores the perceptions of death and the afterlife by reflecting on the history of cemeteries, his eloquent words giving a sense of humanity to the imagery of death. The pictures show remarkably beautiful cemeteries, such as the Montmartre in Paris and the Jewish cemetery in Prague. The idea of transcendence is evoked through the pages, with images of exquisite emblems of wreaths and personal items left on graves to remember the dead. There seems to be a story behind many of the grave sites shown, which makes the book a fascinating exploration each time it's looked at. While the book does depict symbols and artwork of the silent world of the cemetery, it's not a somber portrayal that will sadden. The book's depictions of angelic statues and carven marble resting places serves to uplift the common misconception about death as a final end. To view the pictures and epitaphs from tombs of lovers and children is to visit an unknown soul's home, leaving your thoughts like flowers at their feet.

To appreciate this is book of art you have to be able to look past all preconceived ideas of cemetaries and dying and look further into a higher realm of spirituality. The monuments featured in this book speak of something other than death - they speak of the person that lives on and the people that are left behind to remember them. Looking through the pages I felt a connection to another world that was very much alive. When you look at each picture you can feel the emotion. The monuments whisper to you from beneath the vines and the algae that threaten to keep their secrets forever. Looking at all of this one must wonder why so many feel the need to express their grief in such a manner? When I look at the pictures, the beautiful aged monuments tell a story of their own and possess their own mortality, especially the ones that mimic our image. Seeing their bodies covered in snow or their faces that have aged like our mortal ones instill a sense of fragility among the living and the dead alike. There is no escaping the inevitable and if you could just look past the marble and granite you would see the souls that are trying to tell you their story. After I read this book I longed to see Pere-Lachaise in Paris. I finally got the opportunity five months ago. Being there was the most surreal experience I have ever had. I found many of the monuments shown and I have to say David Robinson's photography speaks to us in a way that no spoken language can. Pere-Lachaise is over 105 acres of remarkable ethereal beauty. Cemetaries are usually thought of as the land of the dead but this book will show you how alive death can be. After you view this book you will not only see beauty, you will feel it. And if you are one of the lucky ones you will realize that cemetaries are alive and if you listen closely, you will feel what they have to say.

Dean Koontz did a beautiful job with this book of photographs of cemeteries, writing words that whisper softly into the ear and which match the photos perfectly. This is a lovely book.

I just recently got done reading this book that I picked up on a trip to the mountain. There is still so much left to see, and i have been down there five times already. The history is rich, and very informative. It is a shame that politics got involved and that the original dream was not able to be fullfilled, but alas we got something

This tells the story well. However, I would like to see more murals carved into the granite on the rest of Stone Mountain's sides. For a more balanced memorial to those who served and suffered in the years surrounding the War of the Secession, these should include images of Dred Scott, John Brown, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, and Frederick Douglass, as well as the Cherokee Trail of Tears.

Having lived in Atlanta until 1985, I played on and around the mountain most of my childhood, but knew little of it's history. Mr. Freeman's book is very informative and explains in an interesting way how the park came to be. If your interested in what some call the "8th Wonder of The World," I would suggest this read.

Mr. Smith's book gives the total picture of the dynamics that went into the creating of Mount Rushmore. Beyond just the unbelievable effort of the artist, Mr. Smith supplies us with the many other factors that make an effort such as this possible; support, funding, political, environmental, geography and most important, why the monument was created at this location. Then there are the lives of everyone associated with the project; from the artist to the lowest member of the many teams that are brought into the story to make the reader feel that they were there from the beginning to the completion. The author's inclusion of personal interviews with some of these people provides glimpses into rapidly fading history. The book was so compelling that I want to return to the Black Hills to see first hand all that I missed from lack of knowledge on by previous 3 visits. This is a must reading before visiting Mount Rushmore.

The Carving of Mount Rushmore is, quite obviously, about the carving of Mount Rushmore. However, it is much more than this, because Smith discusses the creation of this national monument in the context of its time and through the eyes of the creators. Central to this story is the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, who was a man possessed by ambition and perfection. His is the name that is generally associated with the monument. However, there were many others who were central in the creation, including those in government, business and the actual men who worked on the carving. Each of these is placed very much in the context of the time and place.

If you have an interest in Mount Rushmore, this is a very worthwhile read.

Smith writes an engrossing tale about how Doane Robinson decided it would be a good idea to have sculptures created in the Needles of the Black Hills to bring in tourists, and how eccentric carver Gutzon Borglum took his idea over. It is amazing that Mount Rushmore ever was carved, with everyone being most concerned about getting it done their way, and no one paying enough attention to whether or not there was enough money to get it done.

In photographs and words, Lucy Zeh captures the often beautiful monuments and sometimes the very simple graves of Thoroughbreds, some who are immortal & others who have been forgotten with the passage of many years.

There should be a special link between the breeder/owner of the racers who give so much in the oftentimes difficult life at the track. How the champions - and a runner did not have to be a graded stakes winner for the accolade - are treated in death speaks volumes about their handlers.

Etched In Stone reminds each reader that the Thoroughbred should be treated well in life and with dignity at death.

I just got my copy of Etched In Stone and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful book. It is not the slightest bit morbid but rather a fond look back at those equines who have made an impact on racing. Seeing the graves and reading about (for many) forgotten Thoroughbreds brings these long-ago champions back to life. I hope to some day be able to visit these memorials myself. This is a must have book for the racing or horse fan!

This book, paying tribute to some of our nation's greatest athletes, has been long awaited and greatly overdue! Thoroughbreds, especially those from Kentucky (the horse capitol of the nation) have always been admired by all and this book only makes their legends live on more vivedly. With it's pictures and stories of the headstones and the great athletes that lie beneath, the author takes a vivid look at these magnificent beasts. I cannot wait to explore the graves highlighted!

The book reads like a diary, but it's a fictionalized story of the real Civil War surgeon Zabdiel Boylston, and it would make anyone grateful for modern medicine. Amputation was pretty much the treatment for everything, and that he was burned in love a couple of times during his period as a combat surgeon puts a very human face on this story.

I got it at my local library; it was part of a display in advance of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. The research and realism was amazing. I was fortunate to see the author lecture on the subject in Indiana. Dressed in the full civil war soldier uniform I thought the author to be an enthusiastic Civil War Buff. I was amazed to find out that the author was a modern day trauma surgeon whose interest in the civil war goes beyond the superficial, dry information one reads in text. His interest draws on real life experiences with bullet wounds and infections that he has treated in modern times.

An excellent novel of a surgeon who signs up to serve in the Union army during the Civil War. Written by a modern surgeon, Kernek obviously had researched his predecessors well. It might be a bit detailed for the squeamish, but for those who want a good "feel" for what a surgeon went through during the Civil War, I highly recommend it. It is a relatively short read, and the story line carries one right on through. This book belongs in every Civil War buff's collection, because it tells about an often overlooked part of the war and tells it very well. At this price, one can't afford not to buy it!

This book has succeeded with relatively few words what so many have failed to do with numbers, nightmarish photographs of survivors, and casts of outsized political and military personalities. In page after page the reader sees pictures of thousands of innocent children who did not know what awaited them. The size of the book alone might make one think it likely to be tedious, but after one hour of looking at the faces of happy children the reader feels emotionally drained but compelled to move through the entire book out of anger, pity, disbelief, and certainly, a feeling of outrage that the atrocities committed were done in the name of civilization, and with a perverted sense of cultural and "racial" purity driving so many people to commit such acts, by commission or omission, of unadulterated evil. The emotional impact of this book is overwhelming.

This 11.000 children deported from France, their photos, their faces, their smiles are the most moving and powerful thing I have ever seen.

Their passports, personal photos, and names -- all that remains of the over 11,000 French children carried off to the camps. This book is fragile, printed on thin paper with a delicate spine, and it is also has the strongest presence of any book I have ever read. The sheer impact of all of those young children cannot help but make the strongest among us feel sadness and loss. Much praise must go to the authors for putting so much time and effort into so many that have been forgotten.

Bishop's detailing of the history of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the immigration waves that made them the Gateway To America, along with his tribute to the victims of September 11th 2001, make a great read.
Bishop's optimism is felt and it is refreshing!

Gordon Bishop does an extraordinary job detailing the history of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well as tribute those lost on September 11th 2001.
Bishop's optimism is felt throughout, and is welcomed in a cynical age.

Based on the PBS documentary, Gordon Bishop's Gateway To America is both a guidebook and a history of the New York/New Jersey triangle that was the chief entry point for America's immigration wave in the 19th and 20th centuries. Fun facts and insights into the past fill the pages of this informatively written account, one which examines The Statue of Liberty, Battery City Park, South Street Seaport, remembers the World Trade Center and commiserates with the victims of the September 11th attacks. Color photographs by Jerzy Koss enhance this enjoyable and highly recommended history and guide.

The Holocaust Memorial psychoanalyzes the mind of the individual who dropped the bomb and in so doing indicts the culture that produced and continues to sustain him. Davis' drama exposes the core disorder of the American psyche: the wedding of sexuality and death rendered in a succession of violently acute images progressing from the orgiastic and orgasmic explosion of the bomb to the new hell on earth inhabited by the blackened skulls of victims unable to howl upon meeting death. In Tibbets, Davis portrays a man in denial of his dead affect, a man so married to military duty that he can only become aroused by ravaging the world with the bomb. In the Historian, Tibbets' Grand Inquisitor, Davis offers an existential alternative, a man who has been visited by sexual cruelty but refuses to be hollowed out by cutting through psychic defense mechanisms like Tibbet's and America's historical justifications for the bomb and instead preserving the image, of the bomb, of sexual violence, as that which must be neither denied nor repeated. In the drama of their "debate," Davis compels us, the audience, to choose between two paths--the first, the rage for rhetorical order that quiets our fears and covers over our voids by afflicting exponentially unto others what was done unto us; the second, the reversal of such processes of repression-cum-cruelty engaged by bearing witness to and working through the traumatic events in history and in our sexual lives.

Davis' play kept me up well into the night. It is an incredibly learned work--one that paints credible and haunting and damning portraits of the actors involved in the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (including President Harry Truman himself). These portraits expose many of the myths, abstractions, and self-serving explanations that have been used to justify America's development of the Bomb and its use, and force us to ask decisive ethical questions about both. The answers to which Davis' play leads us are unsettling, since we may, indeed, now have to memorialize a Holocaust of our own doing. Just as haunting are the voices and images that emerge in the play's depiction of the effects of the bomb as it was experienced by those on the ground. This play forces us to think in human terms about the victims and survivors of Hiroshima, and in so doing, stands as a first step in our attempt to bear witness to past.

This is a play that challenges the bounds of the theater and shatters all our usual ways of understanding history. Through a focus on the individual who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Davis captures the collective mentality that precipitated that event. In doing so, he forces readers to come to grips with our own willingness to be complicit with the worst atrocities of history. Furthermore, the play utilizes drama to enhance the audience's sense of involvement. The play assaults the audience and offers it no respite. One finishes reading with a feeling of being utterly changed.