Silent City on a Hill

At one time holding mausoleums owned by the larger hotels whose guests died on the premises were common. Other institutions also had them such as Harvard University for students who died during the winter or too far from home. This did not have to be far as we view it today since there was no refrigeration or streamlined transportation. One of the officials of Mt Auburn Cemetery who wanted, expected and had made arrangements to be buried there, unpredictably died in Paris. So he was buried in Paris. Silent City on a Hill is a book subtitled Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery. It is a large coffee table style book which details an excellent view of the history of cemeteries revealing our changing attitudes. The today historic downtown Boston cemeteries were in neglect and few thought much of them prior to the 1830s. As the city became crowded and wealth increased, luxuries like memories of the dead became possible. Death was more real and expected even as their view of the future did not stretch out so far as to envision the luxury of memorials. Mount Auburn was perhaps the first garden cemetery and is still today is a beautiful park accommodating bird and tree enthusiasts. There is quite an interesting history to cemeteries and the memorial statuary alongside celebrities remembered there.   

when memory fades

Time hangs heavy over all cemeteries made more beautiful by an elusive sadness touching the entire scene. When Maurice Chevalier was alive I can remember looking at photographs in a publication of him in his new home he called La Louque. I think it was more of an large estate, named in memory of his mother. I seem to recall a picture of him sitting beside a fountain perhaps six feet high in the garden, which I thought was specifically to her memory. My own mother's passing was still fresh in my memory at the time. What makes it all sad was that later I heard that it was all for sale and wondered what would become of his mother's memorial then. You will see in today's celebrity links a photo of his actual grave site in France provided by Philippe Landru who has built a huge website of many cemeteries. Even if you are not familiar with French, the pictures alone are worth the visit.