A time-honored maxim by British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone guides all good funeral directors: “Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.” These words are more relevant today than ever.
Funeral Directors, Writers, and Authors
Alexandra Kathryn Mosca
ABOUT
Alexandra is a first-generation funeral director, who found her calling in funeral service when she worked in her first funeral home while attending college. Licensed for more than 35 years, Alexandra is a regular contributor to industry magazines: American Funeral Director, American Cemetery, and the Director. She is also the author of three books: Grave Undertakings (2003), Green-Wood Cemetery (2008), and Gardens of Stone (2016).
Alexandra is passionate about cemetery preservation, and has not only written extensively on the subject, but has served as a cemetery tour guide. She is firmly convinced that, “People need a place to memorialize their loved ones and cemeteries provide that.” Despite news items to the contrary, she also believes that the traditional funeral isn’t (and shouldn’t be) going away any time soon. An article she wrote for The Saturday Evening Post’s Jan./Feb. 2018 issue, titled ‘Let’s Keep the Funeral Traditional Alive’ makes a persuasive case for its importance.
Alexandra’s articles about death and mourning in the wake of the pandemic are must-reads for those struggling with loss or trying to understand it. Her article for Next Avenue How the Pandemic Has Changed the Way We Grieve is a follow-up to A Funeral Home Director’s View of the Pandemic, which she wrote in the spring of 2020 when the death toll in New York City was at its highest.
Doris V. Amen
ABOUT
Doris V. Amen, is also a first-generation funeral director. Since 1989, she has owned the Jurek-Park Slope Funeral Home in Brooklyn, located just blocks away from historic Green-Wood Cemetery. Over the years, Amen has been the cemetery’s “go to” funeral director. When it comes to arranging a funeral, Amen’s motto is: “You can do it fast or you can do it right. There are no retakes.”
Doris has been the subject of numerous documentaries, as well as a favorite of the Press. She has been interviewed by a wide range of publications, including The New York Times. In 2015, Doris self-published I’m Dying To Tell Ya!!!: True Tall Tales of a Brooklyn Funeral Director, a compilation of some of Doris’s most memorable experiences in funeral service. She is also involved with Park Slope Films, an independent film company, based in Brooklyn. And every October, an invitation to Doris’s legendary Halloween Party becomes the most coveted one in New York City.
GET IN TOUCH
The Morte Girls are available for talks nationwide. If you want to chat about funeral service, cemeteries, or anything else funeral-related, don’t hesitate to reach out.
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