Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Audience at Frozen Dead Guy Days showing of “Grandpa’s in the TUFF Shed.”
This weekend, the wild and wacky Frozen Dead Guy Days festival takes place in Nederland, Colorado. Yes, there is a real frozen dead guy at the center of it all, kept in a dry ice-filled crypt in a shed in this tiny mountain town west of Boulder.
The festival includes a parade of hearses, coffin races on a snowy obstacle course, costumed polar plunging, frozen turkey bowling and salmon tossing, lots of live music, alcohol, and much more – including The Doyenne of Death®! You can hear an interview about it live on Denver’s TalkRadio 630 KHOW at 7:20 a.m. MT this Thursday (tomorrow) with host Ross Kaminsky.
I’m heading there soon to present The Newly-Dead Game® (it’s like The Newlywed Game, but the questions focus on how well you know your partners’ last wishes) and to show the documentary, “Grandpa’s in the TUFF Shed,” which tells the unusual story of how Bredo Morstoel became the famous Frozen Dead Guy. A big thank you to Passages International, leading providers of environmentally-friendly and green funeral products, and their educational website, www.AGreenerFuneral.org, as the main sponsor of my activities there this weekend.
“The one who dies with the most toys… still dies.” If you love T-shirts with snappy sayings, snap up this latest T-shirt from A Good Goodbye. Click here for more information and click here to purchase ($20 plus shipping).
The next Albuquerque Death Cafe is scheduled for Saturday, March 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at my home. Please RSVP for address and directions.
There’s lots of great information at The Family Plot Blog. Links to recent posts, upcoming events and a funny quote follow. Please call 505.265.7215 if I can be of assistance!
Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death®
The Family Plot Blog Highlights
Click on the titles to read the blog post and see the associated videos. Review all posts on The Family Plot Blog or view just the Death Cartoons posted on the blog!
Why Not Join the Lively Woodworkers in Coffin Clubs? According to this story in The New York Times, D.I.Y. coffin clubs bring people together to build their own burial containers, which they playfully call “underground furniture.”
Five Ways to Make Your Death More Eco-Friendly As baby boomers start facing their own mortality, the idea of eco-friendly funerals is becoming more widespread.
The latest Death Cartoons feature funnies from Bizarro, Close to Home and Non Sequitur.
Upcoming Events and a Funny Quote
See the Calendar page for a full listing of events.
Saturday, March 18, 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. — Gail Rubin keynotes the Cancer Support Now conference in Albuquerque, NM. Her talk, titled “A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die,” is sponsored by Morris Hall, PLLC, a premier estate planning law firm. Register for the free daylong conference at www.CancerSupportNow.org.
Wednesday, March 22, 2:30 p.m. — The University of New Mexico Retiree Association features Gail Rubin speaking on “Kicking the Bucket List: Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die” at the UNM Continuing Education Center North Building.
Thursday, March 23, noon — Congregation Albert Open Mind luncheon series features Gail Rubin speaking on Downsizing and Organizing. Location: The Board Room at Congregation Albert, 3800 Louisiana Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM.
Saturday, March 25, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. — Death Cafe at Gail Rubin’s home. RSVP for address and directions. More information here.
“Sleep is death without the responsibility.” — Fran Lebowitz
Gail Rubin, CT, is author and host of the award-winning book and television series, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, Hail and Farewell: Cremation Ceremonies, Templates and Tips, and KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die.
Rubin is a Certified Thanatologist (that's a death educator) and a popular speaker who uses humor and films to get the end-of-life and funeral planning conversation started. She "knocked 'em dead" with her TEDx talk, A Good Goodbye. She provides continuing education credit classes for attorneys, doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice workers, financial planners, funeral directors and other professionals. She's a Certified Funeral Celebrant and funeral planning consultant who has been interviewed in national and local print, broadcast and online media.
Known as The Doyenne of Death®, she also hosts A Good Goodbye Internet radio show and produces Mortality Minute radio and online video spots.
Rubin is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, Toastmasters International and the National Speakers Association New Mexico Chapter. Her speaking profile is available at eSpeakers.com.
Gail Rubin has been interviewed about funeral planning issues in national and local broadcast, print and online media. Outlets include The Huffington Post, Money Magazine, Kiplinger, CBS Radio News, WGN-TV, and local affiliates for NPR, PBS, FOX, ABC-TV, CBS-TV and NBC-TV.
Sign up for a free planning form and occasional informative newsletter at her website, AGoodGoodbye.com.