Dedicated to the proposition that a forgettable gravestone is a fate worse than death. You too can be in a league with --
William Shakespeare:
"...Curst be he that moves my bones."
and W.C. Fields:
"On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
Why do you need an epitaph?
Because, if you do nothing, someone else will put your name and dates on your gravestone, period. If you are terribly unlucky, they'll add something like "Dearly missed" or "Beloved Cousin" or maybe even worse.
Do not act as if you would live ten thousand
years. Death hangs over you.
--Marcus Aurelius
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Don't give up your power over the most important words of your life. Take control: it's your life, it's your death, it's your stone -- YOU say something!
A small sampling from cemeteries around the world:
"Here lies the body of Richard Hind,
who was neither ingenious, sober or kind."
Poet H.J. Daniel's epitaph for his wife:
"To follow you I'm not content.
How do I know which way you went?"
Lawyer Sir John Strange:
"Here lies an honest lawyer,
and that is Strange."
Julian Skaggs of West Virginia:
"I made an ash of myself."
Plan Your Epitaph Day is an international observance featured in Chase's Calendar of Events and in Wireless Flash News Service. Mark your calendar -- it occurs every year on November 2 to coincide with the Day of the Dead.
Lance Hardie, creator of Plan Your Epitaph Day, has been interviewed by media personalities across the United States, Canada, England and Australia. He is at work on a book titled How to Write Your Own Epitaph -- and Live Long Enough to Enjoy It, due to be in print by the Day of the Dead. Contributions are welcome, preferably accompanied by anecdotal notes, references, and pictures if possible. Credit will be given, of course.
As a committed epitaph crusader and consultant, he lives by the motto: "Make it worth dying for." He also writes epitaphs for pets, including pet projects that have bit the dust and pet peeves that have been laid to rest.
Look what Byron did to Castlereagh:
Posterity will ne'er survey
a nobler grave than this:
Here lie the bones of Castlereagh:
Stop, traveller, and piss.
Whatever you do, don't let that happen to you!
For some pointers on how to avoid that miserable fate, consider
It is important to reflect calmly, again and again,
that death is real and comes without warning.
--Sogyal Rinpoche
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So then, the bottom line:
Will your gravestone be a plain stone?
Or will it be a PRECIOUS stone?
It's not a hard choice. It only takes a well crafted epitaph to make a headstone sparkle like a diamond. And the real kicker is --
While a diamond may be forever,
a 24-carat epitaph is immortality itself!
Have you planned YOUR epitaph yet?
Check what NetGuide Live had to say about that subject, and Jim Hightower's outrage (on his nationally syndicated radio show) at the Wall Street Journal article highlighting Plan Your Epitaph Day.
For more information send SASE to:
Lance Hardie
P.O. Box 4595, Arcata, CA 95518
or email: headstone@hardiehouse.org
Or use the feedback form.
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