Cemetery Guide
A fascinating book decodes hundreds of symbols found on tombstones
Douglas Keister does for cemetery exploration what Audubon did for birding with Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography. Keister, a writer and photographer who pens a column for American Cemetery magazine, decodes hundreds of symbols, explaining how a broken rosebud symbolizes a young life cut short, a seashell represents a journey, and an upside-down flaming torch means that the soul’s life still burns in the next realm. “There’s never been anything remotely ghoulish about cemeteries for me,” says Keister. “It’s about a memorial, about honoring the past.”
To search out these symbols, he recommends these Western sites.
Boothill Graveyard. Just west of Tombstone, AZ, on State 80; 520/457-9344.
