Between Two Urns: Undertaker Thomas Lynch

GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Podcast

(We couldn’t resist when Miguel Paniagua proposed this podcast idea and title. And no, you’ll be relieved to hear Eric and I did not imitate the interview style of Zach Galifiniakis).

We’ve talked a good deal on this podcast about what happens before death, today we talk about what happens after. Our guest today is Thomas Lynch, a poet and undertaker who practiced for years in a small town in Michigan. I first met Thomas when he visited UC Berkeley in the late 90’s after publishing his book, “The Undertaking: Stories from the Dismal Trade.”

We cover a wide range on this topic, weaving in our own stories of loss with Thomas’s experiences, stories, and poems from years of caring for families after their loved one’s have died.

We cover:

• The cultural shift from grieving to celebration, the “disappearance” of the body and death from funerals

• The power of viewing the body and participating in preparing the body, including cremation

• The costs of funerals

• The story of why Thomas became an undertaker

• A strong response to Jessica Mitford’s scathing critique of the American Funeral Industry published in “The American Way of Death”

• Our own experiences with funerals and burial arrangements for our loved ones

• Shifting practices, with a majority of people being cremated after death, a dramatic increase

This podcast was like therapy for us. And I got to sing Tom Waits’ Time, one of my favorites.