The Importance of Memorialization: A Conversation & Altar-Making Workshop
2025-11-10 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | Maple Grove Cemetery, 127-15 Kew Gardens Road Queens, Celebration Hall, New York, NY, 11415, United States
Join death educator and doula, Lauren Seeley of the Silent Book Club of Death along with Amy Shea, author of Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins, for a meaningful evening of reflection, conversation, and creative expression around death and memorialization at Maple Grove Cemetery in the Celebration Hall.
Presented by the Friends of Maple Grove, this event will explore how we remember and honor those who have died, including those who go unclaimed. Amy Shea will offer a brief visual presentation featuring memorials and headstones crafted by families in county cemeteries and potter’s fields, highlighting the personal and cultural significance of these acts of remembrance. The gathering will continue with a hands-on altar-making workshop led by Lauren Seeley. Together, we’ll consider how the rituals of memory and grieving can offer solace for loved ones and reclaim dignity and connection for all who have gone before us. We’ll end with some conversation and book signing!
Books will be sold by Kew & Willow books!

TOO POOR TO DIE: A book reading with author Amy Shea
2025-12-04 18:00 - 19:30 | Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists, 1625 Salvador Ave, Napa, CA, 94558, United States
Join Amy Shea author of Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins and community death educator Anne Jungerman for December’s Death Positive Event ~ an evening exploring what it means to die unseen, unclaimed, or without means and the vital role of community, compassion, and witness in after-death care.
The evening opens with a brief memorial for Napa County’s unclaimed dead of 2025, with words from Rev. Susan Panttaja and song from the Napa Valley Threshold Choir, followed by Amy’s reading, discussion and Q&A. The program concludes with Too Poor to Die sales by Napa Bookmine, and Amy signing books along with light refreshments.
In partnership with Napa Abode, an emergency shelter, we will be collecting donations to support community members in crisis. Please consider bringing: New, packaged toiletries (razors, soap, shampoo) and/or men’s and women’s t-shirts (all sizes).
