It's October, and that requires obligatory Halloween-inspired posts. And
nothing is more obligatorily macabre than looking at the tombstones of
those who have died.
Now through Halloween we'll post collections of tombstones to see where famous writers are hanging out today.
Today: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sylvia Plath, Charles Dickens, Robert Frost
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald was a notorious alcoholic for decades, and often claimed he had contracted a mild form of tuberculosis. Nonetheless, he spent his final decade in decline, his body withering.
Weakened by previous heart attacks, Fitzgerald was struck dead after a final, massive coronary arrest in 1940 while (according to his lover) he was eating a candy bar.
Remember that on Halloween when you grab that extra Snickers.
Labeled a non-practicing Catholic, Fitzgerald wasn't allowed burial in a Catholic cemetery, leading to his original internment in Rockville Union Cemetery in Rockville, MD. Later, after Zelda's death, the Fitzgerald's daughter, Frances, worked to have the Catholic church overturn their ruling on the burial banishment. She succeeded, leading to her parents' current residence at Saint Mary's Cemetery across town in Rockville.
Tombstone Notes:
Including a passage from one's own book is one last final indulgence. It's like a literary gin and tonic.
Sylvia Plath
Plath, who battled with depression for many years, attempted suicide multiple times during her short life.
In 1963, her marriage to fellow poet Ted Hughes deteriorating (he was busy with other women) and in the throws of depression once again, Plath sealed off the kitchen with wet towels, placed her head in the oven, and turned on the gas.
So, yeah. That's a downer.
Buried in St. Thomas' Churchyard, Heptonstall, West Yorkshire, England, Plath's fans have continually tried to chisel off
Hughes from the tombstone. While Ted Hughes was alive, he regularly had the tombstone removed, fixed, and placed back in its original location.
Tombstone Notes:
Ted Hughes included the epitaph on his wife's marker, potentially from a 16th century Chinese poet Wu Ch'Eng-En--but some disagree as to its origins. Because when you want to go with obscure sources, go big, my man.
Charles Dickens
Dickens spent the last few years of life in declining health, starting with bouts of paralysis (mild strokes) in 1868 incurred from a heavy itinerary of public readings.
By 1870, gravely ill, Dickens suffered a severe stroke at his home, and spent a day unconscious before dying.
Planning for death well in advance, Dickens desired a burial at Rochester Cathedral, near his home at Gad's Hill, "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner."
Showing that the dead can't file a complaint, Dickens was instead buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. While the official funeral ceremony was relatively private (only twelve mourners were in attendance), the grave was left open so thousands of people could walk past and pay their respects.
Expensive? Check.
Ostentatious? Check.
Public memorial? Check.
Sorry, Chuck. You rambled on so long with your books that no one could pay attention when you died.
Tombstone Notes:
Fun fact time! Dickens' plot is surrounded by a who's-who of famous dead Brits, including Rudyard Kipling, George Fredrick Handel, and Thomas Hardy. It'd be a great guest list for a dinner party if you really wanted to be bored.
Robert Frost
While living to quite a ripe age of 88, Frost was slowed down in his later years. In late December 1962, Frost went to the hospital for a needed prostate surgery. Not the best of ideas for the severely elderly, complications were had, most notably a heart attack. A month later, Frost died.
When he was sixty-six years old, Frost purchased a burial plot for his entire family at the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, VT, where the entire roster of dead Frosts currently resides.
Anyone who wagered money that Bennington, of all places, is where the notoriously hopscotching Frost would end up must've made a fortune.
Tombstone Notes:
Frost quotes himself from his poem 'The Lesson for Today.'
"I had a lover's quarrel with the world," says Frost's marker--painting an image no one in the world ever associates with Frost.
