I am, in addition to being a taphophile, a writer and an amateur photographer .

I write for the pure, selfish joy of it. Ditto for taking pictures in graveyards.

I’m a Midwesterner. Though I love to travel. Because I earned my bachelor’s degree in acting, and my masters in Public Administration, my job history’s…eclectic let’s say.

I did commercials, summer stock, dinner theater and I was an extra in the stockholder scene in The Godfather III. Yes, I can honestly say I’ve been directed by Francis Ford Coppola!

I first realized my love of graveyards when I was doing summer theater in Creede, Colorado. Our company photographer, John Gary Brown, was working on a book. Not only did he embrace his cemetery fixation, he took it seriously enough to spend months traveling, photographing and writing, writing, writing. His wonderful book, Soul in the Stone, Cemetery Art from America’s Heartland, was published soon after that summer.

Brownie wasn’t a genealogist or a historian. He really didn’t care who was buried under the strange and wonderful stones he photographed. He just liked hanging out in graveyards. It was an art museum/meditation/picnic in the park type experience for him. I totally got that.

Inspired by Brownie and his book, I outed myself as a taphophile then and there. I’ve happily indulged my fascination ever since. Join me!