Title | Author | Content Sample

• Item# 226-M
• ISBN13: 978-0-942679-21-2
• ISBN: 0-942679-21-0
• Copyright 1998
• 640 pp.
• 2.06lb
• Form: Paperback, Trade paperback (US)
• Price: $29.95

Caring for the Dead
Your Final Act of Love

By Lisa Carlson

A complete guide for those making funeral arrangements with or without a funeral director. Families, friends, and support groups who want to say goodbye in a meaningful way—not just write a big check to a funeral director—will find detailed and practical legal information in this unique guide. By taking an active role in funeral and memorial arrangements, families can save thousands of dollars while better serving the emotional needs of loved ones. Caring for The Dead gives the legal requirements of each state, how to obtain and file permits and death certificates, explanations of cremation and embalming, burial procedures, and other necessary information. Readers learn how to shop for the best services at the most reasonable prices, while avoiding fraudulent and deceptive mortuary practices. This landmark book helps readers take control of one of life's most intimate experiences—the final act of love for a friend or relative.

Carlson, who served many years as executive director of the non-profit consumer group Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), is perhaps the nation's most knowledgeable advocate for consumers in their dealings with the death industry. This is a big book, packed with useful information that will help you in handling arrangements wherever you live. (It doesn't take long to read the book, as more than half the pages are reference material, to be looked up as needed.)

What People are Saying

"Part estate-planning, part grassroots manifesto, part morbid intrigue, Caring for the Dead will educate, fascinate, instruct and infuriate."
—The Nation

"The most complete guide to DYIs can be found in Lisa Carlson's Caring for the Dead."
—LIFE Magazine, March 1999

"Highly recommended for public libraries. Carlson, executive director of Funeral and Memorial Societies of America, has compiled an information-packed guide for those making funeral arrangements with or without a funeral director."
—Library Journal

"The most comprehensive recent review I know of [on laws relating to burial] is Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love by Lisa Carlson."
—Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope

"Caring for the Dead is a comprehensive guide for consumers having to make funeral arrangements for a family member or a friend . . . . An essential reference acquisition for every public library system in every community across the country."
—Midwest Book Review

"Lisa Carlson has assembled with compassion the most comprehensive book ever produced on this subject. It's of interest to every living soul so that their final arrangements—and those of their loved ones—will be conducted with dignity and affordability."
—John Wasik, special projects editor, Consumers Digest magazine