Over Our Dead Bodies:: Undertakers Lift the Lid

(Paperback)

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With humor and heart, Over Our Dead Bodies does for the undertaking profession what Mary Roach's Stiff did for cadavers, and, like Caitlin Doughty's Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs gives us permission to embrace our morbid curiosity. From the authors of Mortuary Confidential. Not knowing what to do, I sat on the church steps and waited. As the gravity of my failure began to well up in me, I began to cry . . . I HAD LOST THE HEARSE! From a dysfunctional family who turn their mother's wake into a full-blown riot, to funeral crashers looking for free meals, to a horse-drawn hearse taking the dearly departed for the ride of their afterlife, these accounts from actual undertakers will have you laughing, thinking, and gasping in disbelief. A literal graveyard of wild coincidences, slapstick humor, and touching moments, Over Our Dead Bodies explores the lighter side of the dead, the living, and the lone undertaker who has to make it all go as planned-even if it doesn't. "Charming and disarming . . . you'll see the 'fun' in funeral, humanity included." -Raymond Mungo, author of Famous Long Ago "Great fun. These guys can bury me any day." -Tim Cockey, author of the Hearse mysteries Praise for Mortuary Confidential "As unpredictable and lively as a bunch of drunks at a New Orleans funeral." -Joe R. Lansdale "Sick, funny, and brilliant!I love this book." -Jonathan Maberry "These true mortuary tales are poignant-and suddenly, gaspingly, in-your-face funny." -Booklist

Author Bio

Kenneth McKenzie became interested in becoming a mortician at the age of 12, after his father committed suicide. Working with grieving families came very naturally to him. After eight years at a Lakewood, California mortuary, in 1994 he opened McKenzie Cremation & Burial Services in Signal Hill, California. In 2007 Ken created and published the well-received Men of Mortuaries calendar to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness and received California's Outstanding Funeral Director of the Year award. McKenzie gives back to the community by sponsoring annual holiday food drives and summer estate sales that directly benefit people who receive care at local hospices. McKenzie has been named outstanding business of the year for community involvement by the Long Beach Community Business Network. He resides in Long Beach, CA. Please visit www.mckenziemortuaryservices.com. Todd Harra is the author of several books about the funeral profession. He is a fourth-generation funeral director and works for the family business in Wilmington, Delaware. In addition to being a funeral director and embalmer, Todd is a certified post-mortem reconstructionist and cremationist.