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.

do not bury me

There are many people who do not want their bodies buried under the ground. There are very elaborate mausoleums but there are also small mausoleums as small as a single casket, that sits above the ground. Today in a matter of weeks turnaround, there are available headstones with color etched photographs. They are experimenting with photo cell powered videos with audio that turn on automatically when someone approaches. What a setting this would make in those countries where picnicking with the family is common at the graves of the family ancestors.  

Many cemeteries are beautiful but....

...the Mt Auburn Cemetery is one of the first beautiful cemeteries in the United States. In the early 1800s cemeteries were untended and rather run down unpleasant places. Started early in a growing city which outgrew their cemeteries, garden cemeteries began with Mt Auburn outside Boston.

one of a kind

The tide is out and the water is gone.

A new famous link just added this morning is to the memorial of one of the few celebrities I've met conversationally, at a party when we were both quite young, but not particularly aware of it at the time. William F Buckley Jr commissioned his monument, a very unique cross containing the ashes of himself and his wife. Click on his link under Celebrity Links nearby. Be sure to see all the photos.
Spence

Merv Griffin's headstone...

 ...reads, I will not be right back after this message.

Perfect engraving...

... on Jackie Gleason's headstone is on a very elaborate and attractive monument in an equally impressive setting that says "AND AWAY WE GO"