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Message: [QUOTE="Shelley Dziedzic, post: 244960, member: 144586"] Richard- seems to be a sign of the times- this need to leave mementos at gravesites. Am thinking of Pere LaChaise in Paris and the "tributes" left to Doors legend Jim Morrison- bottles of Jack Daniels! Jerry Garcia, James Dean, Elvis- all suffer the same strange type of adulation. Even Edgar Allen Poe receives a bottle of brandy and a rose every January by the unknown "Poe Toaster". I live near a cemetery and am always disturbed by plastic ducks, Christmas trees, vinyl Easter Bunnies, teddy bears, etc- and MOST unsettling- long LETTERS to the dead left on the stones to be read by the "deceased"- I have actually thought about writing a book called "The American Way of Death" examining this 20th cen. phenomenon. I was a little stunned that toys were left at Halifax at the grave of the unknown child recently. I wonder if all the focus on spiritualism, life after death, movies which promote psychic possibilities of contacting the "spirit world", etc. have affected this generation's mourning behavior and modes of expressing grief and loss. At the very least it is bad taste and tacky clutter. In some cases it is painful to family members who must see these maudlin and sometimes ridiculous deposits at the gravesite of a teenager whose life was cut tragically short. The Dead are past caring about these trifles and the living- somehow derive some sense of comfort by the leaving of such tokens. Remember the recent case of Princess Diana- the need to pelt the hearse with flowers, leave balloons and all manner of trash tied to railings and gateposts. It is perplexing to those of us from the postwar era, but I fear this mode of expression is here to stay as a way to cope with bereavement and loss . I guess any celebrity or victim of tragedy publicized world-wide is target for this strange outpouring- the airline catastrophies, the government building bombings- all receive this outpouring of litter on the premises. What was being mourned at Mr. Dawson's grave I wonder- lost youth-? love cut short in its prime? The film touched such a chord with youth internationally- such as the death of Buddy Hollie or James Dean- that it was not surprising that this manifestation occured at his grave. On a practical note- it IS possible to write to the Fairview people and register disapproval- no doubt the junk was cleared away. I have left several wreaths there over the past 10 years and they are cleared away fairly rapidly. [/QUOTE]

Verification: In which year did the Titanic sail?