Confessions of a Mortician (Funeral Director)

I am always asked what it's like to work as a funeral director. To help answer that question, I wrote the following article for AOL Jobs.


Confessions of a Mortician (Funeral Director)

Van Ness Parsons Mausoleum

Egyptian Revival architecture was a popular style of memorialization during the mid 19th Century. This fashionable trend made a resurgence in the 1920’s presumably because of the 1922 discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb.


Albert Ross Parsons (1847-1933), a composer, musician, author and pyramid expert published The New Light from the Pyramids in 1893. Fittingly, this Egyptologist is entombed along with a number of family members in this pyramid-shaped mausoleum which combines Christian religious statuary and Egyptian symbolism,

An archival shot of this Egyptian Revival mausoleum appears in my book, Green-Wood Cemetery ( Arcadia Publishing, 2008).

Green-Wood Cemetery's "Angel of Death"

The “Angel of Death” marks the graves of Charles Schieren, the next-to-last mayor of Brooklyn, and his wife Mary Louise. The Schierens died from pneumonia within 24 hours of one another in 1915.

New York Cemeteries Panel -- January 15, 2011

On Saturday, January 15, 2011, the Brooklyn Historical Society hosted a New York Cemeteries Panel. Joining me were the authors of Cypress Hills Cemetery. We enjoyed speaking about our respective books and answering questions posed by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience. Thanks to all who attended!