Below is a review by Stephen H.
Fritchman of Jessica Mitfora’s book,
“The American Way of Death,” as
it appeared in the People’s World
recently. The book is available at the
People’s Co-op Book Store and is
Priced at $5.50.

The Rev. Fritchman is minister
of the First Unitarian Church of Los
Angeles. This review was also given
as a pulpit editorial at his church on
Sunday, Aug. 25, 1963.

‘f A TIME when America
is giving long overdue at-
tention to racial integration
and nuclear disarmament, some
Citizens may think it is an un-
forgivable distraction to pub-
lish a book about the American
funeral industry.

As a working minister for the
Past 13 years, I would dissent

in our frenetic culture that di-
Minishes the cruel economic ex-
_Ploitation of our people needs to
be said with trumpets, not once
but again and again, Ever since
Evelyn Waugh published his. fic-
tion masterpiece, ‘“‘The Loved
One,”’ thousands of Americans
have become uncomfortably
aware of something wrong in our
_ Society where the inescapable
Problem of burying the dead is
_ Concerned,

Jessica Mitford, author of
“Daughters and Rebels,’’ has in
her new book, ‘*The American
Way of Death,’’ studied with high
Seriousness, albeit with approp-
‘Tiate wit, what I would call Cus-
ter’s Last Stand of American
free enterprise, the modern fun-
- €ral. It is afantastic, exciting and
Magnificent survey of a subject
—

from such a judgment. Anything -

every persen I know seems to
want to d@ieeuss with a clergy-
man (and with ”#nyone else who
will listen). She has explored the
sepulchral subject matter with
astonishing thoroughness, with
moral indignation (prudently
mastered but not eliminated), and
with a vast amount of information
which every person should know
in advance of need.

* * *

In 1961 the average cost of
an American funeral, including

Jessica Mitford

**services’’ and burial in a rec-
ognized graveyard, was $1,450.

This is the third largest ex-
penditure the average family
makes in its lifetime, and it

often means that a year’s col-'

lege tuition will not be paid for
a son or daughter, or that a
needed operation to prolong the
life of a father or mother will
be postponed or never under-
taken,

As a clergyman I am more
outraged at the inverted sense
of values represented by the

conventional funeral than by. ar

anything else in the whole in-
flated business, and I say busi-
hess advisedly. It is bad enough

keeping up with the Joneses in_

life, but it is even more tragic
to try to keep up withthe Joneses
in death, The great majority of
people, inexperienced in resist-
ing the blandishments of the
super-salesman ‘‘mortician,’’
totally capitulate, only to find
themselves later saddled with
a three to five year debt, and,
at times, a sense of residual
guilt that they did not spend
even more.

The American people have
been taken for the last 75 years
in a trade that is even more
mercenary than the real estate or
used cars. The sooner we learn
to face this fact the better off
we will all be, financially and
spiritually. The lengthening life-
span of the 20th century man has
heightened the competition, and
made even more impenetrable the
jungle in which the bereaved seek
to make their sombre purchases,

Miss Mitford deals a prac-
ticed blow to the myth that it
is un-American not to spend
$1,500 or $3,000 on the final
rites for grandfather, even if
insurance and death benfits
are available to foot a portion
‘of the bill. She correctly re-
minds us of the authentic early-
American tradition of simplic-
ity in these matters; the pine
box, the loving hands of the
family preparing the shroud, the
plain grave, the modest marker.

She writes eloquently on be-
half of the modest funeral, ex-
plaining the foolishness of em-
balming, the racketeering in
coffins. which do not preserve,
and often do not even impress

he layman commonly asso-
Ciates rheumatism with ach-
ihg joints, But in fact, besides
j0ints rheumatism may attack
the lungs, pleura, liver, kid-
_ ‘heys, brain and other organs.
ut most serious is its effect
©n the heart, and doctors all
Ver the world agree with the
French scientist Lasegué that
Theumatism licks the joints but
_ Saws at the heart’’,

The exact causeof rheumatism
: as yet unknown, As a rule,
‘ha however, it follows in the wake
eat catarrhal diseases, especial-
VY angina and catarrhs of the
Upper respiratory tract. There
@ve also been cases of rheum-
atism caused by decaying teeth
ae Suppurative inflammations.
“hus, anything that weakens a
“Person's resistance can serve as
© initial stimulous for rheu-
atism,

Rheumatism as an after-effect
‘angina is probably the most

WORTH
READING

Outline ‘History of Poland, by S.
ot and M. Zychowski. Price
As is a brief outline of apeo-
}.> thousand year history. The
in; Points up the important
-*Sittical and cultural role play-
aK bY Poland in the period pre-
R ®eding her partition, during the
4issance, in her internation-
: Telations and in the formation
Uropean culture,
€nables the reader to under-
d the significance of the po-
» €conomic and cultural
8€s that have occurred in
nd’s national life since the
World War II.

Rheumatism—requi

common. A few days, or even a
week or so after convalescence,
the temperature jumps suddenly,
without any apparent reason, the
heartbeat increases, the patient
complains of pains in the heart,
breathlessness with only slight

physical exertion, pains in the.

joints and general indisposition.

Rheumatism may attack any
organ, but the heart is always
the sufferer. A treacherous
feature of rheumatism is that
very frequently, even during
an attack, there is no apparent
deterioration in cardiac activi-
ty. As a result people are
misled by their subjective sen-
sations and do not take the
necessary measures, often fail-
ing to carry out the doctor’s
orders and therby allowing the
disease to gradually ‘‘gnaw’’ at
the heart.

Another unpleasant feature is
that, once contracted, it may

Local theatre |
flourishing

Local theatre is going
strong with the Metro Theatre
Centre, currently located at
the Kitsilano Theatre, Fourth
and Arbutus, presenting ‘‘The
Doctor in Spite of Himself’’,
“by Moliere, from Nov. 12-16.

This will be followed by
Maura Laverty’s Irish tragie-
comedy, ‘‘Tolka Row’’. Dates
are Nov. 19-23 and 26-30.

The Arts Theatre is plann-
ing at least two evenings of
original one-act plays by local
writers. Manuscripts should
be sent to John Stooshnov,’
1181 Aztec Street, Richmond,

‘B.C.

i ok ae on Wee

res care

reappear with renewed force even
after fairly long intervals, That
is why preventive measures are
extremely important if the de-
velopment of the process is to
be halted,

As catarrhal diseases aggra-
vate rheumatism, care should
be taken to avoid colds as well
as to keep the tonsils, naso-
pharynx and teeth in good order,
for inflamation in them is the
most common cause of relapse:
Lastly, if you have ever had

rheumatism, even in the mildest |

form, always be sure to have sod-

ium salicylate or pyramidon at.

hand, These drugs build up re-
sistance in the body which stops
rheumatism from damaging the
heart.

The dose of salicylate for
adults is 0.5 grams, fir or six
times a day for two or three
weeks, even if you appear to
feel well. Tablets should be
taken with a half to one gram
of soda. The dose for children
of six to ten years old is 0.5

grams of salicylate and 0,25-0,5 .

grams of soda three or four
times a day, also in the course
of two or three weeks. If you
are taking or administering
pyramidon, the dose should be
0.3 grams for adults and 0.15
grams for children of 6-10 years,
three times a day, and also
preferably with soda.

Of course, there are many
other very effective medicines
besides these ‘‘household’’
drugs. In the Soviet Union,
for instance, wide use is made
of such tested drugs as adre-

nocorticotropic hormone, buta- —

dion, rheopirin and _ bucilline.
«These should be taken only on
your doctor’s advice; and if you
have ever had rheumatism let him
keep — a constant eye on you.

=¥: Stepanov

- programs,

the earnest mourners. She dis-
pels the fictions about the law
in regard to disposing of the

dead, fictions almost universal-

ly believed in our common ig-

norance,
SS

If I had my way about it

I would ask every family in
the land to purchase ‘The Ameri-
can Way of Death’’ and place it
on the bookshelf of the home,
ready at hand to be of immense
first-aid value ‘before the
undertaker comes.’’

The author speaks with needed
erudition about the new cult of

*“erief therapy’ with its subtle

implication that people are com-
forted and strengthened by a
costly funeral, the bronze urn,
the endowed niche, the ‘‘per-

petual care’’ cemetery lot, and

all the other contrivances to ex-
tract the last possible dollar from
the defenseless and bereaved
family.

Thousands of ministers are
already in revolt against the
manipulation ef the living by
the purveyors of merchandise
for the dead, and I sincerely
hope that this book will add
further scores of thousands of
the clergy to their numbers,
who will be better equipped to

counsel before the undertaker_

makes his melancholy call.

Miss Mitford spends consid-
erable time in her book on the
growth of memorial societies,

Funeral industry vultures exposed

body donations to medical schools

‘and other rational approaches to
the inevitable problems as-
sociated with death,

‘The American Way of Death’’
not only shocks and fascinates
the reader; it also equips him
with long-suppressed informa-
tion and humane alternatives,
There are ways of honoring a
long and successful life, of focus-
ing attention on the mind, the
character and the achievements

BOOKS

of men and women who have
shared in the magnificent enter-
prise of man on earth,

The manner of speaking our
farewell is a matter of personal
taste: there are many ways of
doing it with dignity and respect,
and without spending one’s life
savings. The sooner we know this
the more time and energy willbe
left to enjoy the living as long
as they are with us. Jessica
Mitford has lifted the curtain on
some of the major obstacles.

The book concludes with an
invaluable — appendix, giving
names and addresses in many
states of memorial societies and
related organizations, as well
as instructions on how to organ-
ize a memorial society. The

day of doing it yourself has
returned. Pax vobiscum,

Don’t kick out set

5 nese are some new, exciting

things happening on local tele-
vision sets, Although most chan-
nels are still far too cluttered
with viewing trash (not to men-
tion commercials) a number of
originating both in
Canada and the U.S., are be-
ginning to mirror some of the
social, philosophical and polit-
ical changes that are **blowing
in the wind’’.

For example, the CBC national
network will carry a show -en-
titled ‘‘The Peacemakers’’ on
Tuesday, November 26. Van-
couver time is 9:30 to 10:30
p.m

The program, one ofthe‘ Doc-

ument”’ series, attempts to ser-—

iously analyze the peace move-
ment and its moral and philo-
sophical impact on the collect-
ive conscience of mankind.

It will feature interviews with
Bertrand Russell, Canon Collins,
Herman Kahn, Norman Alcock
and others. The Canadian Peace
Congress has welcomed the pro-
gram, describing it as one which
**promises to be an outstanding
contribution to the understanding

_ by the general public of the nature

and purpose of the peace move-
ment.’’ :

: * * * :

Also on the CBC national net-
work, a new show, ‘‘Let’s Face
It’’?, made its debut at 10:00 p.m
on Channel 2 on Sunday, Novem-
ber 3, CBUT informs us that
this Toronto-originated show will
be a regular Sunday night feat-
ure.

The show we witnessed at that
time was a brilliantly conceived
and well executed satire on many
of the burning issues of the
day: Canada’s ‘‘defence’’, the
problems of French Canada
(which had some very negative
features), the foreign junkets of
our MP’s, etc.

The most gripping moments

came in a film shot from a play

which has taken Europe by storm.
Written by aWest German (whose
name escapes us) it deals with

the role played by Pope Pius

XII while fascism was exterm-

‘November iS 1963—PACIFIC TRIBUNE

inating six million people of Jew-
ish blood.

A young Jesuit enters the papal
study and pleads for an unequi-
vocal denunciation of Hitler and
his butchery, but fails to get
it. Instead the pope is in the
process of preparing a state-
ment which, in effect, condones
the. savagery toward Jews. In
desperation, before the very eyes
of the pope and a cardinal, the
young priest pins the Star of
David upon his Jesuit frock.

‘If this is an indication of the
type of viewing to be seen on
**Let’s Face It’’, the CBC de-
serves encouragement via the
telephone, letters, etc.

* * *

**East Side—West Side’’, as the
hame indicates, is based upon
life in New York city. Shown
on Channel 2 every Wednesday
at 11:30 p.m., it stars George
C. Scott, is produced by David
Susskind and draws upon well
known screen and TV actors
for guest appearances. One epi-
sode about a month ago featured
Howard De Silva, who has been

TV

black-listed ever since the Mc-
Carthyite madness of the late
’40’s.

Scott-plays the role of a soc-
ial worker who desperately tries
to overcome (in anisolated, indi-
vidualistic way) some of the ter-
rific contradictions of life in a
savage capitalist environment,
This is the basic theme although,
of course, it is presented much
more subtly. :

The plots run the gamut of
practically everything from ed-
ucation, through a rebellious gen-

‘eration of confused youth, to the

horrifying brutality of a huge City

-Hall bureaucracy. Sets, acting

and direction, are superb, as is

the writing.

So, don’t throw away that TV
set. With selective viewing, there —
is much that is useful (and at
HAIRS, inspiring) to watch.

a Shack

9