In the first installment of Dead Stop, Morning Edition‘s summer road trip series about interesting grave sites in America, they feature Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company’s “Flavor Graveyard.”
Headstones are dedicated to bygone favorites such as Oh Pear (1997), Makin’ Whoopie Pie (2002-2003), and Urban Jumble (2000-2001). Sean Greenwood, Ben and Jerry’s Grand Poobah of Publicity, provided a tour of the cemetery in Waterbury, Vermont.
Like most cemeteries, the Flavor Graveyard attracts its share of mourners and other visitors.
“It’s not uncommon,” Greenwood says. “You walk up to the graveyard here, and there’ll be fans that are up here putting flowers next to a headstone, or down on one knee, kind of paying their respects.”
In what may be a nod to the current zombie fad, Ben and Jerry’s also offers customers a chance to make the case for resurrecting a favorite flavor.
But that doesn’t mean every flavor should be brought back. In particular, Greenwood cites “the dreaded Sugar Plum” ice cream, a mix of plum and caramel that he says should remain six feet under.
Visit the NPR site for the full story. To nominate your favorite gravesite, use the hashtag #nprdeadstop on Twitter or Instagram.
Tune in tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. MT for a fun conversation on Ghost Raps Radio, based in Richmond, VA! Gail Rubin joins Big Ray and K.B. to talk about funeral planning for those who don’t plan to die, and some spooky stories of spirits visiting memorial services.
Ghost Raps Radio also has a TV component. And they take phone calls! The call-in number is 804 – 798 – 1010. View or listen online at www.GhostRapsRadio.com.
Everyone who buys a copy of A Good Goodbye within 24 hours of the live show gets a free copy of The Newly-Dead Game™ as a bonus! Click here for more information and to place your order.
Gail Rubin, Certified Celebrant
Tune in online for A Good Goodbye interview with Gail Rubin talking about funeral planning issues on Susan Rich Talks at http://www.w4wn.com/. Starts at the top of the hour!
We’ll be talking about cremation, 30 Funerals in 30 Days, The Newly-Dead Game™ and of course, funeral planning for those who don’t plan to die.
Gail Rubin, Certified Celebrant
The radio program Health, Wealth and Happiness with host Gary Pozsik today interviews Gail Rubin, author of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die and The Family Plot Blog.
Tune in today at 1:00 p.m. ET/noon CT/11:00 a.m. MT/10:00 a.m. PT online at www.wgvc.net and click on the “Listen Live” button. If you are in the Columbia, SC area, WGVC is located at AM 620 on the radio dial.
The conversation will last about 30 minutes. Hope you’ll listen in!
During a radio interview on WIBC in Indianapolis last week on Maundy Thursday, the day that Jesus died on the cross, the host Denny Smith and I discussed the ritual cleansing and dressing of the body that precedes a traditional Jewish burial.
He was interested in knowing about the steps taken by the Chevrah Kaddisha, the “holy friends” who volunteer to wash and dress the body in the ritual fashion. We talked about the first cleaning, which is physical, and then the ritual cleansing, done by pouring a continuous stream of water from pitchers along the length of the body.
Then the body is dried and dressed in the traditional cotton or linen garb – pants with no openings for the feet (this person is not walking anywhere) and no pockets (you can’t take it with you). An under-tunic and an over-tunic for both men and women is similar, although the sizing is different. And there is a covering for the face and head which is different for men and women.
Ties are secured around the legs and the outer sheet used to transport the body from the table to the casket. The body, the linen clothing, and the casket all decompose at about the same rate. It’s the closest you can get to a green burial in a conventional cemetery.
A caller asked about crypts and mausoleums. Having just seen some new cool stuff for mausoleums at the International Cemetery Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA), I talked about an ozone system I saw there that helps control odors and crypt flies.
Host Denny Smith was an expert in HVAC and plumbing, so he started wondering about the venting systems in mausoleums. Another caller who was a plumber provided some insights. He explained he had once installed a system of pipes in a mausoleum. There were one-inch pipes in each crypt that allowed natural air flow to vent upward to the top of the mausoleum, venting odors without need of fans or other systems. I learned something while being interviewed!
To download a podcast of this interview, visit this page at the WIBC website.
Filed under: Media Interviews | Tags: A Good Goodbye, funeral planning, interviews, radio
Check out this weekend’s CBS Radio program, Weekend Roundup. You can hear Dan Raviv’s interview with Gail Rubin, author of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, about three-quarters of the way into the podcast. It’s right after the interview with John Glenn about the 50th anniversary of his pioneering orbit of the earth.
Topics covered include the high cost of dying, benefits to planning ahead, religions and Certified Celebrants. Click to go to the podcast.
Also, tune in this evening for Gail’s visit with Byron Eggers and H-Love on AM 740 WSBR radio! It will be a live in-studio conversation. We’ll have a great time – click here to tune in online. The Byron Eggers Show airs from 8:00 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET.
Filed under: Media Interviews | Tags: Frozen Dead Guy Days, The Newly-Dead Game
The Newly-Dead Game at Frozen Dead Guy Days is in the news! Here’s part of the story by Breanna Draxler in the Boulder Daily Camera/Longmont Times-Call.
Instead of “making whoopee,” participants in one of the newest Frozen Dead Guy Days event will be making funeral plans. The Newly-Dead Game is a comically morbid riff on the long-running TV favorite, “The Newlywed Game.”
Participating couples will be quizzed on all things funerary to find out how well they know each other’s final wishes. The game is one of many death-related activities on the lineup for Nederland’s annual Frozen Dead Guy Days, which runs this year from March 2 through 4.
“My brother knighted me the Doyenne of Death,” said Gail Rubin, the game’s creator and author of “A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die.” “I thought it had a nice ring to it, so I’ve actually trademarked it and added it as my moniker.”
Rubin’s game debuted at last year’s festivities in Nederland and drew a crowd of about 300, she said. This year she will again be traveling up from Albuquerque, N.M., to host The Newly-Dead Game, which is scheduled to take place twice on Saturday and once on Sunday.
“I’d found out about (Frozen Dead Guy Days) from one of the national TV news shows,” Rubin said. “I said to myself, ‘I am going to be there next year. I don’t know how, but I want to be a part of this.’”
The Newly-Dead Game was Rubin’s solution.
“It’s definitely a unique topic,” said Amanda MacDonald, the event director of Frozen Dead Guy Days. The rules of The Newly-Dead Game resemble those of the original game show. Couples compete to answer questions about the end of one’s life. The game’s easier five-point questions pertain to information required for a death certificate, such as a person’s birthplace and mother’s maiden name. Ten points are given for correct answers to questions about epitaph preferences, funeral menus and burial attire. The most random and revealing questions can earn a couple 15 points: “If you were to set up a household shrine in your partner’s memory, what one item would he or she say should be included?”
The game, like most of the weekend’s events, is intended to entertain. But The Newly-Dead Game serves a practical function as well.
“It was good. It was definitely humorous. I think couples actually really learned a lot about each other,” said MacDonald, who recently purchased the rights to the festival from the Nederland Chamber of Commerce, of last year’s game.
Rubin said the game brings light to a dark subject. She said she hopes the game will encourage participants and spectators to start planning their funerals, since choosing coffins and funeral homes can be stressful and costly at the last minute.
“It’s a very fascinating shopping trip and best conducted before you’ve got a dead body on your hands,” Rubin said.
Or in the shed in your backyard.
What: Frozen Dead Guy Days
When: March 2-4, 2012
Where: Various locations in Nederland, including Chipeta Park, First Street and Black Forest Restaurant, 24 Big Springs Drive, where Grandpa’s Blue Ball takes place Friday evening
Info: frozendeadguydays.org or http://agoodgoodbye.com/events/frozen-dead-guy-days-2012/
Yesterday’s interview on WGN-TV Midday went well! Check it out through this link.
While waiting to go on the air, my gracious host Larry Mandel, funeral director at Piser Funeral Services, took me around. He worked at WGN early in his career. Did you know the Bozo the Clown show originated here?
Tonight we’re expecting over 100 people to attend my “Funny Films for Serious Funeral Planning Conversations” talk at Piser Funeral Services, 9200 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, IL. The champagne reception starts at 4:00 p.m. and the talk starts at 5:00. If you’re in the neighborhood, come on by!
While walking along Michigan Avenue this morning, I stopped in at the Chicago Cultural Center, the old public library building. It’s a spectacular building, and there’s an awesome skylight dome by Tiffany. What really caught my eye is the sign for an exhibition that’s opening tomorrow called Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection.
Apparently, Richard Harris collected nearly 1,000 works of art which explore the iconography of death. Some creations in the collection include work by some of the greatest artists of our time. However, I’m going to be on a plane going back to Albuquerque during the opening reception. Drat! Maybe another organization will bring me back to speak in Chicago again before the exhibit closes on July 8.
So excited to be heading out to Chicago for a TV interview and FOUR speaking engagements on funeral planning issues!
Chicago Book Tour!
Tuesday, January 24: Jewish Funeral Traditions Talk in Chicago 7:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. Emanuel Congregation with Congregation Or Chadash, Chicago Jewish Day School, 5959 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago PH: 773-561-5173 – Sponsored by Piser Funeral Services
Wednesday, January 25: Gail is interviewed on WGN-TV Midday News program.
3 p.m. until 5 p.m. Presentation on community outreach to the Funeral Director Services Association of Greater Chicago at Worsham College of Mortuary Science, 495 Northgate Parkway, Wheeling, IL, 847-808-8444
7 p.m. until 9 p.m. Jewish Funeral Traditions Talk, Congregation Beth Am, 225 N. McHenry Road, Buffalo Grove, IL, PH: 847-459-1677 – Sponsored by Weinstein Funeral Home and Piser Funeral Services
Thursday, January 26: Funny Films for Serious Subjects Presentation in Skokie, IL to hospice care workers and the general community, co-sponsored by Elderwerks, Skokie Chamber of Commerce and Piser Funeral Services. 4:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. at Piser Funeral Services, 9200 N. Skokie Blvd. (at Church St.) Skokie, IL, PH: 847-679-4740
If you’re in the neighborhood, come on by!
