Ever wonder why people (or friends and acquaintances) want to visit cemeteries when they’re on vacation? Well there’s a word for those kind of people. It’s Taphophile and I’m a self-confessed one and have been since I lived across the street from a rather large cemetery when I was growing up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

It was a short cut and I never hesitated to take it. I found the graves, the headstones and the larger mausoleums extremely interesting and the peace and quiet of the property welcoming.

The interest has never stopped. If I’m driving and I pass a cemetery that looks interesting, I stop and wander in. If I’m on vacation I’ll look up where some of the cemeteries are and if some celebrities are buried there.

I have a Pinterest page entitled “Unique Cemeteries and Gravestones” with over 2,000 pins and over 300 followers. During some weeks, it garners me over 100 pins or more. Cemeteries and gravestones are a very popular subject.

My father always told me that there are two things you could always make money doing: being an undertaker or a grocer, because people have to eat and people are going to die.

But I digress, because the reason I’m writing this is to introduce my new column about Taphophile. I’ve accumulated several books on the subject and I’m going to post a regular column about someone “famous” who’s died, how they died, perhaps something ironic about their death, where their grave is located and, other interesting tidbits about their death.

I sincerely hope you enjoy it and if you have questions or comments, please post them.