Undertaken With Love

Additional Resources

The classic is Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death (Revisited), updating her original 1963 exposé, which detailed the excesses of the high-pressure salesmanship and lapses of taste within the funeral trade. Mitford died in 1996, four years before the volume was completed. The newer work examines developments since the 1990s, including the Federal Trade Commission's faltering enforcement of its 1984 Funeral Rule contributing to spiraling prices and profits and increasing activism among funeral consumer advocacy groups.

Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America, a book by Gary Laderman, presents a pro-industry viewpoint, largely in response to Mitford's criticism, defending embalming. It also identifies recent changes in the trade: more demand for cremation rather than burial and more privately scripted memorial services. Becoming familiar with the thinking of insiders in the industry can help home funeral advocates who seek ways to influence or work with professional funeral directors.

From an environmental standpoint, journalist Mark Harris' book Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial depicts the growing interest among funeral consumers in earth friendly practices, including many resources for home funeral advocates.

At the time of this writing, Steven Burns, a graduate student/filmmaker at Indiana University in Bloomington, was producing a documentary about the history of the funeral industry in America and the lesser known alternatives, to be completed in April 2009 and scheduled to air on Indiana's PBS station WTIU. For more information, email Steven Burns.

Prepare for Chapter 3

The assignment for the next gathering of your home funeral committee is to read chapter 8 in Lisa Carlson's book Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love. Carlson generously has offered to let us post here for easy access. It provides a good overview of consumer legal rights and responsibilities in death care.

You should also explore your state's page on this site to begin becoming more familiar with its specific laws affecting home funerals. Use this link to find your state's page. Although Carlson's book itself is out-of-print and dated in its state-specific content, it is a good initial resource if you can find it. 

Carlson begins the chapter with this sage counsel:

"Persons who choose to handle death privately must take great care to follow all state and local regulations. The requirements are not complex, but failure to meet them can lead to unpleasant situations and create a climate in which professionals become less willing to work with families."

Go to Chapter 3 Resources: Finding the Law

Photo courtesy Fred Hultstrand History in Pictures Collection, Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo, N.D."Location number: 2028.234