The Morte Girls

Author: themortegirls

Are You Thinking of Hiring a Funeral Photographer?

Today, photographing the dead is making a comeback. But this time it’s not only the deceased who are being photographed – it’s the entire funeral service. Candid shots of the somber rituals, loved ones embracing, mourners comforting one another, are all captured with empathy, and discretion by professional photographers. Duane Knight is one of the…
Read more: Are You Thinking of Hiring a Funeral Photographer?
Elaine & Jimmy: A Tale of Two Restaurateurs

During a recent conversation about iconic New York City restaurants, I mentioned Elaine’s. “Elaine’s? Never heard of it,” someone said. “Never heard of Elaine’s!?” I asked in surprise about the restaurant which had been featured prominently in the opening scene of Woody Allen’s film Manhattan. But maybe I should not have been so surprised. Soon after the death…
Read more: Elaine & Jimmy: A Tale of Two Restaurateurs
What Happens To Cremated Remains Thereafter?

When a New York funeral home closed its door a few years ago, it found itself in the midst of a moral dilemma it had never bargained for. There, on its shelves, were more than 275 boxes of cremains never picked up by the families of the deceased. Some dated back 100 years. Legally, it…
Read more: What Happens To Cremated Remains Thereafter?
What You Need To Know When Considering a Home Funeral

In 1911, when newspaper publisher and journalist Joseph Pulitzer died, he was waked in the library of his Manhattan home. The room was filled with floral tributes and the furniture arranged for the assembly of mourners. Throughout the morning, family, friends, and employees came to pay their respects to the journalistic icon who reposed in…
Read more: What You Need To Know When Considering a Home Funeral
DOA -RIP

Web and social media sites of young, and not so young, funeral directors hawk all sorts of merchandise. Some of it is educational, and the Morte Girls applaud that. But other items are silly or downright offensive.
Read more: DOA -RIP
NYSFDA, Spare Us the TikTok eClips

Lately, the weekly eClips, sent by the NYSFDA, have contained more and more links to embarrassing articles by so-called viral sensations on TiKTok. The most recent article, about a mortuary student who “has lifted the lid” (this expression is gag-inducing) about repairing “injuries on deceased people” with clay (which is not used in actual practice)…
Read more: NYSFDA, Spare Us the TikTok eClips
A “Contemporary” Funeral Home

We’ve noticed, recently, several funeral homes billing themselves as “modern” or “contemporary.” They claim to have a new way of doing things; that they are bringing a new awareness to death and making it less sad. Really!? Light and airy reposing rooms will not change the abject sorrow felt by a family whose daughter has…
Read more: A “Contemporary” Funeral Home
Remember These 8 Useful Tips After a Loved One Dies

After a loved one dies and the funeral is over, you may think the worst is at an end. Then come the many practical matters: settling the estate, filing for life insurance benefits, transferring deeds and titles, and the often dreaded, and sometimes lengthy, task of sorting through a loved one’s personal possessions. Sometimes this…
Read more: Remember These 8 Useful Tips After a Loved One Dies
Sure, Let’s Dumb it Down Some More

Last spring, the New York State Funeral Directors Association sent licensed NY State funeral directors a survey about creating a new –and unlicensed –position: funeral director’s assistant. When the survey responses were tallied, the results showed a majority against creating such a position. Seemingly, that was not the desired result. So, we were all asked…
Read more: Sure, Let’s Dumb it Down Some More
How We Remember

I was honored to be asked to contribute an essay to NFDA’s ‘Director’ magazine in observance of the somber 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. I chose to write about a few of the many 9/11 memorials to be found in cemeteries around the country. One of my favorites is in the Cemetery of the…
Read more: How We Remember