thegooddeath

The '90s Funeral Industry Courtroom Drama of Your Dreams (Patreon)

Published:

2022-05-27 18:31:31

Imported:

2026-06

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Hello Deathlings!

Here is one of those stories that I'd heard bits and pieces of over the years and it wasn't until I sat down and really read about it that I was like, "How can we NOT do a video on this?"

It's like it's ripped straight from a John Grisham novel. Or maybe Saul Grisham, John's lesser known funeral director-turned-author brother. Saul was once an extra on Law & Order (back in his wild youth), it really impacted him. Saul doesn't get the big bucks that John does, but he knows his funeral law. None of this is true and now I've written a whole paragraph on the fictitious (??) Saul Grisham.

Point is – and I do have a point – is that I wasn't the only one who thought this would be a good story and now our little video will soon be eclipsed by a big budget Hollywood pic with Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones. Like I say in our video, I'd be happy to attend the premiere. I've been told I look like Liv Tyler from certain angles, so maybe?

Kidding aside, I hope you come away from this video more determined than ever to ask funeral homes questions, educate yourself about costs, and to hold fast to what you want for you and your loved ones. Don't get bullied by a dude with a yacht.

And as a kicky little reminder of your death rights, those of you at the $5+ pledge level can go check out the latest *limited edition* item in Caitlin's Secret Shop. I hope it livens up your deathling days.

As always, thank you all for helping us make these videos! Onward!

Caitlin

*A quick, but important clarification: If you clicked on this post from your email, the subject probably read, "Caitlin Doughty's new patron-only video". This is not a patron-only video; this is a video that was released to the public. When we release patron-only videos we will explicitly state in the video info and in the video post that it is a "Patron Exclusive" video. Patreon recently changed the way Patrons-only video posts (i.e. these nifty messages that are delivered to your inbox) are released via email – automatically adding that "patron-only video" line to the subject, even if that's not the case. But that's not how we (and a lot of other creators) do things. So, sorry for the confusion! I hope this cleared things up! We're working on fixing this with Patreon.

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The Man Who Took Down a $3 Billion Funeral Empire

“I made a huge mistake.” – Ray Loewen (probably) Thank you Patron deathlings, who make this all possible! http://www.patreon.com/thegooddeath *$5+ PATRONS! Check out Caitlin’s SECRET Shop for a limited edition item inspired by this video*: https://the-order-of-the-good-death.myshopify.com/collections/patreon-exclusive ***CAITLIN CONTENT*** Books: http://caitlindoughty.com/books MORTAL course: https://www.mortalcourse.com/ Our podcast on iTunes: https://apple.co/2yK6c6G Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2QZEVEM Google Play: https://bit.ly/2AdEvoj The Order of the Good Death – articles, resources, and more: http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/ ***WHERE ELSE YOU CAN FIND ME*** Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thegooddeath Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thegooddeath ***WAYS TO SUPPORT AND GROW THE ORDER OF THE GOOD DEATH*** Donations: https://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/donate Become a member! The Order of the Good Death's Store: https://the-order-of-the-good-death.myshopify.com/ ***PRODUCTION CREDITS*** Mortician and Writer: Caitlin Doughty Producer and Writer: Louise Hung (@LouiseHung1) Editor & Graphics: Andy Windak Thumbnail: Landis Blair (@LandisBlair) Thank you to our friend Tanya Marsh, professor of funeral and cemetery law, for lending her eyes to our script and helping us navigate all the legal speak and courtroom drama as we created this video. https://law.wfu.edu/faculty/profile/marshtd/ ***SELECTED SOURCES & ADDITIONAL READING*** “Fight to the Death” http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,135163,00.html “In Mississippi, deal with funeral home giant helped sway a jury” https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1997/10/25/in-mississippi-deal-with-funeral-home-giant-helped-sway-a-jury/ “The Burial” by Jonathan Harr http://www.condenet.com/mags/newyorker/asme/categories/artwork/pdf/11_01_99_Harr_Well.pdf “Brash Funeral Chain Meets Its Match in Old South” https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/27/us/brash-funeral-chain-meets-its-match-in-old-south.html “A Homegrown Disaster” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrishamby/homegrown-disaster “IN THE MATTER OF: THE LOEWEN GROUP, INC. and RAYMOND L. LOEWEN, Claimants/Investors, v. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent/Party.” https://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/italaw9047_0.pdf “History of the Loewen Group Inc.” https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/58/The-Loewen-Group-Inc.html