| Jessica Dillon is seen behind the camera during a portrait session at Embalmarina's Traveling Postmortem Fauxtography Parlour in Tampa. [LUIS SANTANA | Times] |
| Last week while watching something new on Netflix with my tween, there was a funeral scene. And an open casket. “Those are so creepy,” my daughter shivered. I nodded my head, understanding, but not agreeing. I went to my first open-casket funeral as a child and felt terrified. But the ones that have followed since, including my father’s, weren’t terrifying. They were sobering, yes, and a really clear reminder that life is short and death is real. It’s hard to forget that when you’ve seen it. Times reporter Gabrielle Calise’s latest, on a woman taking casket photos for the living, is a much more delightful version of that experience. Calise found Dunedin mortician Jessica Dillon at the recent Tabernacle of Oddities event in Tampa. Dillon was there, coffin and all, capturing pictures at Embalmarina’s Traveling Postmortem Fauxtography Parlour. “I know we all grieve in different ways, but this modern twist on the Victorian postmortem photo shoot was a new one for me,” Calise told me. “I also loved learning about the concept of being ‘death positive.’ This means that you’re open to talking about death and dying, and by addressing these things now you can change the way you live your life.” I didn’t realize I was death positive until reading this story, but it’s a description I’m happy to embrace. Since you’re here, I’m guessing you are, too. “We’re all going to die,” Calise told me, “and maybe things like this can help us accept it.” You can read the full story here. |
| Examples of portraits done by Jessica Dillon of Embalmarina's Traveling Postmortem Fauxtography Parlour on Aug. 19 in Tampa. [LUIS SANTANA | Times] |
| Jane Harper, pictured on the far right, started working with Family Resources in 1980 and retired in 2014. [Courtesy of Family Resources] |
| This week, I wrote an Epilogue for Jane Harper, who spent 34 years working with at-risk youth and their families at Pinellas County nonprofit Family Resources. Harper told her coworkers that she’d once been an “ungovernable” teen, and her sister confirmed it when we spoke. Libby Howze remembered the time in middle school when Harper lit firecrackers in the school bus. She eventually found even footing, however, and spent her life helping other young people do the same. |
| The Rev. Watson Haynes II, seen at the Pinellas County Urban League in St. Petersburg, was appointed to the Florida Commission on Human Relations in 2008. [DIRK SHADD | Times] |
| The Times’ Olivia George dug into the story of the Rev. Watson Haynes II, the St. Petersburg native and Pinellas County Urban League leader who died at 69. Haynes became president of the Urban League in 2012 and served as a chaplain and a minister. Last year, he was given a key to St. Petersburg. “His fingerprints are all over the place,” said City Council member Deborah Figgs-Sanders. “His footprints are on every street, every avenue in the city.” Read more about his life. |
| Here are some obituaries from the past week that I found in the obits section of the Tampa Bay Times, in the news and from local funeral homes. If you see any with great details, please share them.
• James Cook, 86, of Temple Terrace “opened the Temple Terrace Walgreen’s pharmacy in 1978. ... He adored watching movies with his daughter Debbie and was proud she became a pharmacist as well.”
• Cristina Santos, 76, of Temple Terrace “was a ‘church planter’, establishing Bible studies along the east coast from New Jersey to Florida, many of which grew into Filipino-American churches. Cristina loved to cook for the weekly gatherings.”
• James Dickerson, 77, of Apollo Beach “fished the gulf waters from Crystal River to Everglades City. He’s had fishing adventures in the Amazon, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming just to name a few. He was most in his element on the water and sharing his fishing knowledge with family and friends.”
• And in case you need one more reminder that everything changes, I love this Times video explainer about why the water at Clearwater Beach is not, in fact, clear.
Thanks for reading, hug your people,
Kristen |
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