Though it has often been passionately criticized--as fraudulent, exploitative, even pagan--the American funeral home has become nearly as inevitable as death itself, an institution firmly embedded in our culture. But how did the funeral home come to hold such a position? What is its history? And is it guilty of the charges sometimes leveled against it? In Rest in Peace, Gary Laderman traces the origins of American funeral rituals.
Parting Ways explores the emergence of new end-of-life rituals in America that celebrate the dying and reinvent the roles of family and community at the deathbed. Carson investigates a variety of solutions--living funerals, oral ethical wills, and home funerals--that revise the impending death scenario. Integrating the profoundly personal with the objectively historical, Parting Ways calls for an "end of life revolution" to change the way of death in America.
Ralph was born the month his father and mother moved to Flushing, Michigan, to work in his uncle's funeral home. Dinners and sleep interrupted by calls from families were a common occurrence, but so were the heart-warming moments helping grieving families. The Life of Death is a collection of stories about Ralph's memories of the funeral home, both growing up and then working there as a licensed funeral director for more than 45 years. His tales range from the ironic to the inspired.
From personalizing memorials and visitations to aftercare for the bereaved, this thoughtful manual helps owners and staff of funeral homes and cemeteries better understand their customers and the special needs in tending to the grieving and burial process. Explaining the evolution and prospects of today's "experience economy" customer, this motivational resource offers practical guidance for exceeding expectations and provides suggestions for service issues particular to funeral homes, such as first impressions, telephone skills, competition, and arrangements. With the more than 70 issues addressed, funeral professionals will be able to meet and exceed the sensitive necessities of families in pain.
This book expands on the subject of death, traveling across continents and centuries to reveal how distinctively various cultures react to the human's final act. From the medieval French funerals of kings and the Sudanese Danka burying alive its masters of the spear to the great Berawan tombs of Borneo and the catacombs of Paris, Kerrigan shares fascinating details of death that are as revealing as details of the living. A rich and comprehensive history of the world, with photos and illustrations throughout.
Drawing on extensive historical and anthropological research, personal accounts, and interviews with people who work in the funeral industry, Penny Colman examines the compelling subjects of death and burial across cultures and societies. The text, enriched with stories both humorous and poignant, includes details about the decomposition and embalming processes (an adult corpse buried six feet deep without a coffin will usually take five to ten years to turn into a skeleton) and describes the various customs associated with containing remains (the Igala people in Nigeria have a custom of burying people in as many as twenty-seven layers of clothing).
In this macabre and moving compilation of the most embarrassing, jaw-dropping, irreverent and deeply poignant stories of life at death's door, readers are given a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of morticians and funeral directors. Morticians have plenty of unusual stories to tell, from shoot-outs at funerals to dead men screaming and corpses gone missing. Some are frightening, others will move readers to tears. But one thing is certain: death drives people crazy!
Josh Slocum and Lisa Carlson are the two most prominent advocates of consumer rights in dealing with the death industry. Here they combine efforts to inform consumers of their rights and propose long-needed reforms. Slocum is executive director of Funeral Consumers Alliance, a national nonprofit with over 90 local affiliates nationwide. Carlson is executive director of Funeral Ethics Organization, which works with the industry to try to improve ethical standards. In addition to nationwide issues, the book covers state-by-state information needed by anybody who wishes to take charge of funeral arrangements for a loved one, with or without the help of a funeral director. More information about the book and related issues can be found at www.finalrights.org .
Mometrix Test Preparation's Funeral Service Exam Secrets Study Guide is the ideal prep solution for anyone who wants to pass their Funeral Service National Board Exam. The exam is extremely challenging, and thorough test preparation is essential for success. Mometrix Test Preparation is not affiliated with or endorsed by any official testing organization.
This book is an exploration of issues that are essential in end of life care. Understanding end of life practices across cultures and religions is important in the delivery of patient centered end of life care. This book helps clinicians and non-clinicians understand the various end of life practices in their vast patient populations, further contributing to providing empathetic and compassionate end of life care to patients. With the advent of many new options at the end of life, this book also explores the modern day approaches to end of life often sought by patients when faced with disease progression and adversity.
It's not necessarily a glamorous or high-profile career. And those who choose to pursue it have often been stereotyped as saints or schemers, but a career as a funeral director can be both rewarding and challenging. Part counselor, part business person and part technician, the funeral director's career allows those who enter it opportunities to exercise business expertise, and technical and interpersonal skills, and can provide an ever-changing work environment.
