Horse Plumes & Marjorie’s Misinformation | 4M #119
Welcome to the hundred-and-nineteenth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #119, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
This newsletter is powered by MemoryShare, a funeral livestreaming platform that you can set up in 30 seconds or less.
Memories of Mitford
A recent article in the San Francisco Examiner reminded us that 2023 was the 60th anniversary of the publication of Jessica Mitford’s groundbreaking/controversial/influential (you choose your preferred adjective) book The American Way of Death. As you’re no doubt familiar with the book and its subject matter, we’ll skip the article’s commentary on its impact on deathcare and pricing regulations and go straight to the end, which describes Mitford’s own funeral. According to her son, Mitford was “really fancy” services by various morticians, but “got the last laugh” when she died in 1996. She was actually honored twice: With an “extravagant” memorial in her native London, and a funeral procession through downtown San Francisco complete with a hearse carriage drawn by six horses with black plumes, a mortuary band, and a copy of her book tucked into the casket with her cremated remains.
Not so fast, NASA
The president of the Navajo Nation has asked NASA to delay its scheduled January 8, 2024 launch of the Vulcan Centaur — the same rocket that is supposed to include cremated remains that will be deposited on the moon by Celestis Memorial Spaceflights. The reason? The Navajo Nation has requested that the tribe be consulted prior to the launch, as “the Moon is sacred to numerous Indigenous cultures and that depositing human remains on it is tantamount to desecration.’” President Buu Nygren cites a 2021 memo from the Biden administration that “pledged to consult the tribe on matters that impact them.”
And we’ll just leave this one right here for you …
Say goodbye to Facebook
If you’re using Facebook for live streaming, does this sound familiar?
- Copyrighted music is silenced (even with proper certifications!)
- Advertisements out of your control pop up during the livestream
- It’s difficult for families to access because it requires a Facebook account
This is why Carlton Stevens Jr., Operations Manager and Mortician at Stevens Funeral Home in North Carolina, said goodbye to Facebook and switched to MemoryShare—a live streaming platform built specifically for funeral professionals.
“Now, families don’t have to worry about Facebook accounts. It works, and it’s easy to use,” Carlton said. “It’s the best, I’m telling you. It’s liquid gold.”
After he started offering live streaming during the pandemic, Carlton saw Stevens Funeral Home call volume bump from 20 calls to 41 calls.
Today, Stevens Funeral Home live streams a service every other day.
And with MemoryShare, all they have to do is push a button.
“It’s a no brainer,” Carlton said.
Read how Carlton is using livestreaming to grow his business in our latest case study—click here to read it!
