Photo by Tim Green.
Over the last year, I have been reading books about the death care industry: the goods and services that people use after a person dies.Goods include coffins, headstones, cremation jars, and so forth. I haven't read much about death care industry goods.
Mainly, I have read about services.
These range from body removers, organ donation surgeons, coroners, medical examiner, funeral home directors, cremation employees, and researchers.
I realize that this is a grim topic.
In an attempt to face my fears about dying and death, I choose to read. I hope that by learning more about the fate of bodies postmortem, I can have greater courage when the time comes.
Fortunately, no one close to me has died who required me to make final arrangements. However, the older I get, the more likely I will be working with employees in the death care industry.
Here are the books that I have read on this topic so far, arranged by reverse chronology.
Doughty, Caitlin. (2014). Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory. Review
Melinek, Judy and T.J. Mitchell. (2014). Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner. Review
Meredith, Andrew. (2014). The Removers: A Memoir. Review
Blum, Deborah (2010). The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York. Review
Roach, Mary. (2003). Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Review.
All my best to people grieving loved ones while working on the pragmatics of arranging their funerals, burials and the management of their estates. It is a very challenging time.
Related:
Widowed Support Groups
Movies about People Active in the Dying Process