I've been spending a lot of time in cemeteries over the past 40 years (but damned little lately; sigh). 40 years of seriously pursuing gravestone inscriptions, but actually longer, going back to adolescence and family cemeteries in Wisconsin and peering into Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee on my bus rides to and from work. My area of particular interest is New England slate markers from about 1650 to 1825-ish (my eyes glaze over at willows-and-urns) and particularly the work of John Just Geyer (son of Henry Christian Geyer), stonecutter. But I have a major interest in all funerary art and especially ligatures and typography on gravestones, even more than the art in the tympanums.

I was originally sucked in, I mean, drawn to Mudcat on a gravestone thread and signed my name Linn, the Thanatolithologist.

We can easily turn this into a music thread, by the way. A number of years ago I acquired a recently published book entitled, "Gravestone Tourist -- Musicians" which covered mostly classical and jazz. Some pop and rock. The closest it came to folk was Woody Guthrie's grave.

Well. I managed (about 15 years ago on the way home from Indian Neck weekend) to come across Professor Child's grave. Tom almost tripped over it -- "James Francis Child / Editor, English and Scottish Ballads" in the fascinating cemetery of his wife's family.

We (including Tom and Jeri) also found Timothy Myrick's grave -- he's the bloke who got bit in the ankle by a rattlesnake in the song "Springfield Mountain".

Linn