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Book reviews.

Book Review: Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

01 Tuesday Feb 2011

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Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? Fitting Ends & Final Resting Places of the Famous, Infamous, and Noteworthy (Revised & Updated Edition) By Tod Benoit

Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers; Revised & Updated edition August 2009 ISBN: 978-1579128227 pages: 590; softcopy; price: $14.95

Have you ever wondered where your childhood idol from history is buried? Perhaps, you thought about where that long forgotten actor who had the starring role on your favorite TV show is laid to rest? Or maybe to feed the macabre thoughts deep inside your mind you have a downright obsession with visiting the gravesites of anyone who had anything to do with the world of film, literature, politics, crime, history, military, etc.

Well if you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions? The next time you’re at the local bookshop you might be interested in the book “Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? Fitting Ends & Final Resting Places of The Famous, Infamous, and Noteworthy” by Tod Benoit. This book is a treasure trove of short biographical narratives, of over 450 personages from the world of film, crime, politics, literature, great minds, etc.

The book has twelve chapters. These chapters range from topics such as Gen-X Standouts, Baby Boomer Icons, Sports Heroes, Television & Film Personalities, Popular Music Icons, Notable Figures from History, among others. Woven throughout the book are graveside photos, and head shot photos, of the personalities featured on the pages of the book.

One of the things I really liked about Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? was that included with each biographical narration are instructions w/driving directions on how to find the gravesite in the cemetery. Another thing I thought was extremely helpful especially for people who have no clue what they’re doing. Is that near the back of the book there are instructions on how to go about doing research ie finding/tracking down gravesites.

All in all this is a fantastic book. I highly recommend picking it up the next time you’re at your local bookstore, or surfing around your favorite book retail site.

Book Review: Forever L.A. A Field Guide To Los Angeles Area Cemeteries & Their Residents

15 Wednesday Sep 2010

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Recently I got a copy of the book “Forever L.A. A Field Guide To Los Angeles Area Cemeteries & Their Residents” by Douglas Keister. The publisher is Gibbs-Smith and retails for $19.99 at your local, or favorite online bookstore and has 156 pages.

The Low Down:

This was the first book I’ve read by the critically acclaimed author and photographer Douglas Keister.  Not being too familiar with Doug’s work besides what I’ve read about him online. I was seriously looking forward to what he had to offer in this book.

In the first half of the book Doug takes the readers on a tour of 12 of the main cemeteries in Los Angeles.  A sampling of those cemeteries include but is not limited to Forest Lawn Glendale,  & Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills,  Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Inglewood Memorial Park, & Westwood Village Memorial Park.

The second half of the book covers architecture found in the cemetery, symbols, secret societies/clubs which have their symbols adorned on grave markers, etc.

While not everyone who was famous in Hollywood is mentioned  most of the key figures are. Were talking you got The Three Stooges, Rudolf Valentino, George Burns & Gracie Allen, and the list goes on.

The nicely detailed colorful photos were one of my favorite things about the book. Add that for pretty much everyone listed in this book GPS coordinates are included.  One of the neat things I thought was nice about this book is that it was small enough to fit in your back pocket, but big enough where the typeset wouldn’t hurt the eyes.

One feature I thought was really classy was the fact that in the back of the book. There is a fold out map which lists the major roads with a caricature which represents the cemeteries in the greater Los Angeles area. Another thing I thought was helpful in the back of the book there was a complete listing of practically all the cemeteries in and around Los Angeles with GPS coördinates, and contact/website info included.

Bottom Line:

This book must be at the top of your list of grave hunting books to buy. Its got everything a grave hunting book should have, and more. Plus it comes HIGHLY recommended by me.

Book Review: Celebrity Death Certificates Vol. I By M.F. Steen

13 Monday Sep 2010

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One of the things I really enjoy about grave hunting is the acquisition of books. As mentioned books are a very essential part of the hobby. Not only are their grave hunting books on specific cemeteries, & geographic regions, but there are reference works which act like large databases listing thousands of names with biographical, and cemetery info. Lets not forget other works which are encyclopedias of sorts which have biographical info highlighting the deaths and demise of celebrities.

Another literary genre that has come to light in recent years. Are books which highlight photocopy collections, of death certificates, of celebrities. While these books are somewhat short on biographical info, the main feature is the real death certificate of your favorite celebrity.

One such title is Death Certificates Vol. I by Michael F. Steen.  To begin the publisher is McFarland Publishing. McFarland publishes a wide assortment of titles. Mostly reference works of various genres, biographies on classic celebrities, among others. The book has 202 pages and retails for $39.95 I managed to find a brand new copy for $31.94 with shipping.  There are 185 death certificates in this book, with brief biographical info listed in the end of the book.

Some of the celebrities whose death certificates grace the pages of this marvelous work include but is not limited to, Thema Todd, Dirk & Dack Rambo, W.C. Fields, Walt Disney, Clara Bow, Al Jolson, The Three Stooges, and the list goes on. This book must be in the library of any self-respecting grave hunter, celebrity death hag, death certificate collector, or anyone who is fascinated by the glitz and glamor of Hollywood’s élite from yesterday and today.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book which is a minor issue. Is that I wish instead for the biographical info in the back of the book. I would have liked to of seen the biographical info included on the page with each death certificate. So I’m hoping the next two volumes which have already been published fix that minor error.

With all that said and done I HIGHLY recommend this title. You might also be interested in obtaining Michael Steen’s other two volumes under the same name. Both of those titles I have not obtained but I am planning on obtaining in the very near future.

Book Review: Gravesites Of The Civil War Generals by Ethan F. Bishop

23 Monday Aug 2010

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As I’m sitting here pondering this thing called life. I realized that I haven’t got around to doing any recent blog posts let alone a book review. I haven’t done a book review since March 2010. Where I reviewed the book ” Final Resting Places: Orange County’s Dead & Famous” by Michael Barry.

So with that said the book review I’m doing today is on the book “The Gravesites Of The Civil War Generals: Confederate, Union, & breveted Generals Final Resting Places” by Ethan F. Bishop. The book retails for $22.00 the publisher is Heritage Books and has 175 pages.

There isn’t much I can really say about this title. Being that there isn’t much reading material in the book. The book is laid out in four parts starting with Section One: Confederate Generals; Section Two: More Confederate Generals; Section Three: Union Generals; and finally Section Four:  breveted Union Generals.

While not giving very much to read in the form of biographical info on each general. The author Ethan F. Bishop does list citations if the particular general (union, or breveted) earned the Medal of Honor for courageous or gallant service in battle. The author also mentions several books you can read to gather further info. Most notably the indispensable Civil War volumes by Ezra J. Warner  “Generals In Blue,” and “Generals in Gray”.

The generals in the four sections of the book are laid out in an alphabetical list format. Listing which cemetery they are in.  I was unhappy to see that with as much research that went into this book compiling the info. The author did not list the sections in the cemetery these courageous generals rest in.  As for photos there are none besides the photo on the cover.  Another thing I’d like to point out I would have liked to of seen birth/death dates included for each general.

If your into visiting the gravesites of military personages most notably American Civil War generals from both sides of the conflict. You might be interested in this book. But keep in mind there isn’t really much offered in the form of graveside photos, or biographical info.

The book is a starting point if you plan on traveling around the country to visit the gravesites of these courageous men.  While I think this book is not worth the retail price of $22.00 it would make a nice addition to your grave hunting or American Civil War library.

Book Review: Final Resting Places: Orange County's Dead & Famous by Michael Thomas Barry

17 Wednesday Mar 2010

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Recently I purchased the book “Final Resting Places: Orange County’s Dead & Famous” by Michael Thomas Barry, a new up-and-coming author. The book, which was published in January 2010 by Schiffer Publishing, has 224 pages including the bibliography and index. MSRP for this title is $16.99.

The book features over 20 cemeteries located throughout Orange County, California. Luminaries featured in the book include but are not limited to: esteemed western actor John Wayne, former President Richard Nixon, crime victim Nicole Brown Simpson, Sublime front man Brad Nowell, and a host of early Orange County settlers, athletes, entertainment industry big shots, etc. Biographies are concise and to the point, usually lasting a paragraph or two. I personally like it that way because the author covered key topics in such a short time.

What I personally liked about the book was the attention to detail in describing the cemetery histories of various cemeteries. It was a classy touch how each biographical story gets woven into the next story in many cases. I also enjoyed the biographies on personages I’ve never heard of which included the early settlers, many celebrities from the silent era, and others. There are many things I enjoyed about the book but its just too much to add.

Finding the grave sites was made easy with mentioning curbside numbers, grave markers to find, then where go from there in relation to how many markers or rows away the next grave was located.