Gardens of Stone --- A Cemetery Blog by Alexandra Kathryn Mosca

  As a funeral director,  I am well aware that there is never a good time to lose someone we love. But a  loss  seems particularly  difficult  to bear --or recall-- when the holiday season is upon us. All around us, people are absorbed by "the magic of Christmas," and there is an ever-present sense of  gaiety . But not for those who mourn. Yet, many of  those  people find a sense of solace by visiting  cemeteries  and  decorating  family graves and mausoleums for the season. Seeing such poignant displays of love and remembrance, reinforce the continued connection that cemeteries offer. Here's a smattering of some of the beautifully decorated --whether with a small ornamented tree or a simple holiday wreath --mausoleums and graves I've come across at Christmastime. 

Clement Clarke Moore graduated first in his class from Columbia College and was a professor of classics at the General Theological Seminary in New York. In 1822, he wrote 'A Visit From St. Nicholas' ('Twas The Night Before Christmas') for his children. It became one of the most endearing and enduring Christmas poems. Every December, Manhattan's Church of the Intercession, located on the grounds of Trinity Church Cemetery, has a Clement Clarke Moore Candlelight Service to celebrate his poem. The service ends with a walk to Moore's grave.

Each and every December, cemeteries offer a sense of solace to families who are missing loved ones. Whether decorating graves and mausoleums with a second Christmas tree, or a simple holiday  wreath,    such poignant displays of love and remembrance, reinforce the continued connection that cemeteries offer. To see more holiday displays. 

Several gravesites for the Astor family can be found on the grounds of Trinity Church Cemetery & Mausoleum's "uptown" location. This one contains the remains of William Backhouse Astor, son of John Jacob Astor, who died in 1875. The cemetery, which affords views of the Hudson River, was established in 1842 by the parish of Trinity Church after burials were prohibited in Lower Manhattan because of dangerous and overcrowded conditions in city cemeteries doe to severe cholera, yellow fever, and typhoid outbreaks.

While I'm familiar with several monuments featuring canine statuary, on the Green-Wood grounds, this was a new one on me. I've been trying to find more information about the Blakley family, and the significance  behind the statue. I will report back when I do.

  Near the edge of Green -Wood Cemetery, a sculpture of a beautiful woman –Rose Guarino--reclining across stone steps stops visitors in their tracks. Open-eyed, with lips parted and long hair flowing, she is dressed in a flowing gown, and wearing sandals. She clutches a bouquet in her hands. For generations, Brooklyn locals have believed that the monument commemorates a mafia bride gunned down on her wedding day in a revenge killing. The true story behind the statue does involve a murder and is just as tragic.  In the summer of 1909, Dominica Merello and her daughter, Rose Guarino, were dining with family members on the lawn of their NJ summer home when Pietro Silverio, an irate domestic employee, rushed the women, gun in hand, to exact revenge for losing his job. As the women attempted to flee, Silverio gave chase and shot Guarino in the back.   She died three days later. Guarino's body was held for two years in the cemetery's receiving vault while the monument w...

Nearby Green-Wood Cemetery's Sylvan Water is the often-photographed mausoleum of the Michel family. In the early 20th century, the Leonhard Michel Brewing Co., located in Brooklyn, was well-known. Its story can be found in 'The Breweries of Brooklyn,' published in 1976. Tragedy struck the family when, in December of 1914, Leonhard's son, Frank, committed suicide at the age of 41. In an eerie coincidence, plans for the family mausoleum were drawn up earlier that year.

  Charles Feltman is credited with "inventing" the hot dog. In 1871, Feltman opened the Feltman Restaurant and Beer Garden in Coney Island. His establishment proved hugely popular, and on one day alone it was reported that he served 40,000 hot dogs. One of his workers, Nathan Handwerker, would go on to achieve his own fame after opening his own Coney Island hot dog restaurant: Nathan's.

  I've just visiting Green-Wood for the umpteenth time. Given that I've written a book about the cemetery, as well as a number of articles, it might seen like there's nothing new to see. But that's definitely not the case. Its 478 acres always offer a previously unseen historical and/or architectural gem along with a new perspective on oft-photographed favorites. What's more, seeing the grounds through a friend's first visit (as I did yesterday) is illuminating. 

  The Weeping Angel is one of my all-time favorite monuments. So much so, that I requested that the publisher of my last book-- Gardens of Stone--make it the cover.  This monument is Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, but variations can be found in a number of cemeteries around the world.

Calvary Cemetery's Johnston mausoleum is a perennial favorite of mine. Here's another view of it towering above the rest of the gravesites. It is the second largest structure on the grounds, and fans of The Godfather may recall seeing it in Don Corleone's funeral scene. Entombed within are the Johnston brothers, who were proprietors of a successful (very successful judging by their final resting place) dry goods store in the 19th century. 

The weather today was superb for a cemetery walk, With fall colors illuminated by bright sun, I enjoyed visiting some previously photographed sites, to offer a new perspective.  In the mid-19th century, successful tobacco merchant, John Anderson, was one of the suspects in the murder of his employee, Mary Cecilia Rogers. And even though he was never convicted of the murder, his arrest derailed his ambition to become mayor of New York City. Anderson died in France, and was entombed in this grand mausoleum high upon a hill in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

I 've written scores of cemetery profiles, and have enjoyed working on each and every one. But I must say, I was entranced by the subject of my latest profile from the moment I drove into the cemetery gates. Westchester Hills Cemetery-Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, located in Hastings-on-Hudson, in New York, has an amazing roster of notables: the Gershwin brothers, Billy Rose, Lee Strasberg, Tony Randall, John Garfield, Roberta Peters, Mac & Jack Barricini, and the Rosenthal family, who began Riverside Memorial Chapel. The cemetery also contains many stories of interest of non-celebrities, as well as amazing architecture, like this cover monument.

These books will help make any cemetery tour extra-special. Click on  My Favorite Cemetery Travel Books  to read my latest article.

This strikingly detailed bronze replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà is very personal to me as both a New Yorker, and a Long Islander. The granite memorial tablet, in the shape of a cruciform, behind the statue, bears the names, and occupations, of more than 400 of the victims who perished on September 11 or who later died from a 9/11-related illness. The years have not dimmed the horrors of that day.

  This summer I finally made it to East Hampton to visit Green River Cemetery. It had been on my list of cemeteries to visit for a long time. And while I'd read a lot about it, and included it in an article I wrote for  Newsday  about tombstone tourism on Long Island, seeing it was something else. Many of the graves are marked by boulders, rather than  tombstones. It may have been a traditional begun by Artist Jackson Pollo ck, and his wife Lee Krasner. Actor Peter Boyle, too, chose a boulder to mark his final resting place. As does Steven J. Ross, the former CEO of Time Warner.  The tragic deaths of brother and sister Courtney and Robert Steel stopped me in my tracks. Courtney was killed by a drunk driver less than two years after her brother died of cancer at the age of 19. 

  Green River Cemetery, in East Hampton, is filled with out-of-the-ordinary styles of memorialization.  These film reels mark the grave of Stan VanDerBeek, an acclaimed independent film maker.  Talk about unique! Two of his major works were included in the exhibit 'The American Independent Cinema: 1958-1964'' at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in 1984, the year VanDerBeek died.

Green River Cemetery, located in East Hampton, is one of the cemeteries I included in a 2019 article I did for Newsday about tombstone tourism on Long Island, for Newsday. While only three acres, there is an eclectic group of people buried here, and for many of them, boulders serve as tombstones. The grave of actor Peter Boyle, of 'Young Frankenstein' and 'Everyone Loves Raymond' fame is one example.

I recently learned that comedian Jackie Mason, who died last year, was buried on Long Island. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to stop at the cemetery. His monument, on a main road, is large, impressive, and well-visited. What I was especially taken by were the words his wife had inscribed on the monument, and the smaller stone in front of it. In the 1980s, Mason had a show on Broadway, which I attended with a mutual friend. After the show, the three of us had dinner together. Mason was just as funny in private, as he was on stage.

 For May's  American Cemetery & Cremation , I interviewed 5 popular Instagram taphophiles. In the article they talk about why they photograph cemetery monuments, what they look for, and what they hope to impart to readers.

 On a cold day in early March of 2021, I visited Hartsdale Pet cemetery for the first time. I was looking for a different kind of cemetery profile, and this more than fit the bill. Despite the chill, I was fascinating by the often elaborate memorials, and sentimental epitaphs which honor beloved pets of  many kinds. Cats, dogs, birds, rabbits....even a tiger, are commemorated here with unconditional love and devotion.   My article about Hartsdale was the cover story for American Cemetery  magazine's Nov. 2021 issue-- and it became one of my most popular profiles.