death

  • Cemetery Walks

    Cemetery Walks

    Death is a frequently fraught topic, deeply tied to cultural and religious customs, philosophy, and fear. And so, walking around a cemetery can tell you a lot about a place and a people. What a treat, then, to find four recent books that invite us into the lives of final resting places around the world.… Continue reading

  • Finding Potter’s Field: Indigent Burial in the United States

    A patron recently called the library to ask what happens when someone dies without means to pay for cremation or burial. In some cases, such a person might have no living relatives. In others, the identity of the deceased is simply unknown. Here’s what we learned: Continue reading

  • Those We Lost in 2016

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  • October Takeover: Books About Bodies

    ~posted by Selby G. “It is difficult to put words to the smell of decomposing human. It is dense and cloying, sweet but not flower-sweet. Halfway between rotting fruit and rotting meat.” ― Mary Roach, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers With a description like that it is not difficult to understand why most living… Continue reading

  • Finding books to help deal with death

    In the last month, four people have died suddenly or tragically who I did not know well but I am close friends with some of their families, friends or co-workers.  And, I’ve just heard about a nephew planning to get married later this year.  So I eerily feel like I’m writing a story called “Four… Continue reading

  • They see dead people…sort of

    Here are two paranormal series written on a theme, a woman who can see how and when people die, one in hindsight and other as foresight. The Harper Connelly Series is the invention of Charlaine Harris who is known for several series including Sookie Stackhouse in the Southern Vampire Mysteries. The other by Chuck Wendig is the Blackbirds Series.… Continue reading

  • April Question of the Month – an irregular series

    The reference librarians at Seattle Public Library are pretty darn amazing. They don’t know everything, instead they know where to find everything. As part of an irregular series of posts we salute the talented and dedicated reference staff at your local library. Names and other identifying information have been removed from the questions we showcase.… Continue reading