Dead at 33,000 feet: From the man who choked on airplane food to the teenager killed by other passengers
Imagine you are the only passenger in a small plane and suddenly the pilot keels over, dead. Such were the circumstances that befell an 80 ...
Author: Justin Nobel
Digital Dying is written by Justin Nobel, whose stories about science, culture and travel have appeared in publications such as the Chicago Tribune, Audubon, Gourmet.com, Nunatsiaq News, Point Reyes Light and The Smart Set www.justinnobel.com. Comments and ideas can be sent to justinnobel@gmail.com.
Jeffrey Dahmer, man-eating alligators and child brainwashing – A look at the other Etan Patzs
We all now know the name Etan Patz, a New York City six year old who disappeared 33 years ago while walking to the school ...
What does George Bush and 9/11 have to do with flying in dreams? A death psychologist explains all
Does being reminded about death lead to hatred, killing and war? Does it make you want to buy a Lexus? Did George Bush win reelection ...
Titanic deaths: A priest, an adulterer and the President of Haiti’s nephew
“Tell my wife, if it should happen that my secretary and I both go down…I played the game out straight to the end. No woman ...
Trayvon Martin and the ancient art of autopsy
A funeral director recently made national news when he revealed that in preparing Trayvon Martin’s body he found no bruises or signs of fight.
How to teach devastation? Speaking about the Japanese tsunami with a Japan Society educator
How do you educate people about one of the most horrific disasters of our time? When is something too gruesome to show in a museum ...
Greatest disease disaster movies and the strange recent flu deaths of Calvert County
Lou Ruth Blake, of Calvert County, Maryland fell ill with the flu on February 25; six days later she was dead.
The lethal link between Japanese dolls and Viking sex slaves
A friend from Japan recently emailed to say she was taking a pilgrimage to the countryside to attend a “funeral of dolls”. Turns out two ...
Death by burning death by vulture, a look at dying in Tibet
Dorjee, an 18-year-old from the provincial town of Chara, set himself on fire yesterday then walked to a government office building and collapsed.
A history of hearses, plus the tale of the man who set Elvis’s hearse on fire
Recently a British reverend attached a custom sidecar to a Suzuki motorcycle and hit 120 miles per hour, setting what he claims is a record ...
Funeral director’s forgotten role in the civil rights movement, an interview with Suzanne Smith
Slave getaways were plotted at funeral homes, civil rights leaders were shuttled to safety in hearses, and after writing his famous letter from the Birmingham ...
The sweet sick possibly fake story of Percy Shelley’s heart
On July 8, 1822 the English Romantic poet Percy Shelley drowned in mysterious circumstances, while sailing back from Livorno, Italy on his schooner, the Don ...
Trashy tabloid murder photos come to fancy NYC gallery
There is the man sprawled on the sidewalk outside a café in a pool of blood with a gun and a top hat beside him. ...
In Vietnam grieving was once for years, now it’s on a website
In Vietnam, it is customary for grieving families to bring offerings like fake money, cognac and boiled chicken to the graves of their recently departed ...
Interview with the world’s very first funeographer
Priscilla Etienne runs a London-based company called Funeography that takes professional photos at funerals.
