Laid to Rest in California: A Guide to the Cemeteries and Graves Sites of the Rich and Famous

You don't have to be a ghoul to enjoy graveyards. Visiting the final resting places of well-known personalities and historical figures is as much a celebration of lives fascinatingly (or self-destructively) led as it is an illuminating look into the past. In California’s many burial grounds, you can pay final respects to such diverse notables as baseball Hall of Famers Casey Stengel and Don Drysdale; jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald and Artie Shaw; authors Truman Capote, John Steinbeck, and Theodore Dreiser; Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon; publisher William Randolph Hearst; and an entire galaxy of movie stars, from Rudolph Valentino and W.C. Fields to Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Walter Matthau. From the famous to the infamous, they're all here—yes, even Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen. Authors Patricia and Jonathan Brooks unearth nearly a thousand intriguing characters whose legacies live on beyond the grave. Inside this volume you'll find detailed obituaries and sepulchral photographs, as well as useful data on cemetery locations and visiting hours; availability of maps, tours, walks, and special events; and original homesteads and museums—plus tasty lunch spots!—located nearby. Come unearth cemeteries famous for their beautiful, gardenlike grounds and grand (or grandiose) monuments. You can take time to admire the ornate gates and baroque statuary or contemplate the unusual headstones and markers that sometimes belie the personalities resting below. And don't forget to read the tombstone epitaphs, such as Billy Wilder’s "I’m a writer, but nobody’s perfect," Rodney Dangerfield’s "There goes the neighborhood," and Mel Blanc’s "That’s all folks!" In this era, when grave-hopping has become such a popular hobby, an authoritative guide makes the hunt easier. This wonderfully opinionated book, full of history and amusing anecdotes, introduces you to cemeteries up and down California, with hundreds of evocative profiles giving tribute (and in some cases rebukes) to those lying below.