Topic 162: Epitaph Humor

Carol:

Grave Matters

 Generally, I don’t talk about the Daily Theme topics with my husband before I get my ideas, but this morning I did. That’s because when we were in college, we wrote humorous obituaries one evening when we were traveling. Since we were traveling light and didn’t have any paper, we wrote in the blank pages of used paperback books. Our obits were fairly similar:  grand, overblown descriptions of lives as a literary Nobel Prize winner and accomplished Supreme Court Justice. Each of us wrote of outliving our spouse after a Methuselah-like life of 150 years. I would guess that people write humorous obituaries and epitaphs either about themselves when they are young or about someone else when they are old.
 

 Marc didn’t remember writing that silly obituary 30 years ago, but he did remember a quote. He said, “Well. You know W.C. Field’s epitaph, don’t you? Frankly, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.”  Turns out that Fields’ actual epitaph  is simply “1880-1946 W.C. Fields.” The origin of the quote is actually a 1925 article for Vanity Fair magazine, in which famous literary and theater people were invited to write their own epitaphs. And, what he actually said was “Here lies W.C. Fields—I would rather be living in Philadelphia.”   The comment is only humorous if you understand its context, i.e. the humor of W.C. Fields and his recurring sarcastic comments about his hometown Philadelphia. I think they call this “wry humor.” 

 

Another contributor to that Vanity Fair article was the poet Dorothy Parker, who wrote simply “Excuse my dust” (Source: Bauman).  Her words are witty rather than wry and need no context. We don’t guffaw at wit; we smile and appreciate. What of Dorothy Parker’s last remains? She left her estate to Martin Luther King, and she was cremated. Her “dust” was later scattered in a memorial garden at the headquarters of the NAACP in Baltimore (source: Findagrave)
 

Click to enlarge

I have been reading a lot of epitaphs lately as I continue my family history research. I haven’t come across any that stray from either the solemn or the sentimental, but apparently graveyard humor wasn’t that uncommon before the 20th century, often using short rhymes or puns on the deceased’s name or occupation, as in the example of the lawyer whose grave marker read “The Defense Rests.”  Boot Hill in Tombstone, Arizona south of Tucson has its share of both famous people and grave humor. My favorite is the wooden marker for Lester Moore, Les to his friends and apparently the anonymous undertaker or casket maker who came up with the epitaph.
 

What is the difference between an obituary and an epitaph? As tributes or markers of people’s passing, they are the long and short of it. Since this essay is about epitaphs, not obituaries, I will keep it brief. And, I will end with the words from the gravestone of another famous comic. In this case, a picture is worth a thousand voices:

Sources:
Bauman, Richard. “Grave Commentary.” Military Officer.     
Dorothy Parker obituary on Findagrave. 

Image of Tombstone Grave> Mhlradio. Matthew High. Taken Dec. 31, 2008 using a     Kodak EasyShare C613 Zoom.    
Image of Mel Blanc tombstone. Robert A Estremo. 22 Sep 2006.
          

Megan:

I have no source for this but my memory, but as I recollect after Dr. Robert Atkins died from a brain injury, his lawyer released the following statement about the accident:

“Dr. Atkins was negotiating with the ice, and failed in that negotiation.”

If you Google this topic, or lookup “funny headstones” you will find a plethora of examples odd final statements. “I told you I was sick” is one.

Last night I attended a short talk on the National Writing Project given by a friend of the family. As part of her presentation, she had us do a couple of exercises, including a "bio poem." We were discussing its applications beyond creative writing, and someone mentioned that they could be used in a history class to describe the famous dead people. So, now I’m thinking they could be used to great effect with creating epitaphs.

Here is what mine would look like:

Megan
Creative, Sensitive, Insecure (at times)
Daughter of Marc and Carol
Lover of books, dogs and travelling
Who felt confident when writing
Who felt conflicted about religion
Who doubted every official version
Who feared failure, depression and dead animals
Who would have liked to see her name in print
Who would have liked to see her children’s children
Who would have liked to know how it all worked out in the end.
Resident of this little plot of earth
Hammond

Of course, that’s not very humorous. 

How about this instead: