Adventures in Grave Hunting by Lisa Burks

Tributes to The King of Pop

I've been covering Michael Jackson fan activity at Forest Lawn Glendale for several months now.  That includes photographing the many handmade tributes delivered on a monthly basis to the Holly Terrace patio by the Michael Jackson Fans of Southern California on Facebook -- gifts sent from other devotees from around the world. Read more on that here.

Traditionally I create basic videos to highlight the many gorgeous, heartfelt items and post them on YouTube, but this month I experimented with using Flash technology and ran into a glitch.

The good news is that I found a great editing tool. The bad news is that the trial edition won't let me incorporate video (my main reason for wanting to master Flash skills) or post the final product to YT (I found out after finishing the piece, duh.)

Ya get what ya pay for.

Luckily, the freebie version is blog friendly so all is not lost this time around. Here's a look at the many wonderful April offerings.

Update: Thank you Amy Kimes for the Anitomo tool inspiriation! Here's a YT friendly mix of the same images:

Great Mausoleum Cryptology 101

The questions about Michael Jackson and his burial never end, do they?  It's been announced that he's to be laid to rest in Forest Lawn Glendale's Great Mausoleum.  Now inquiring minds have begun to ask what type of entombment will he have?

The Great Mausoleum ~ Pictorial Forest Lawn, 1939 edition

I have no idea, but what I can do is show you some examples the possibilities based on what I know already exists there. The Jackson family may come up with something completely different, difficult to predict and time will tell if the public will be allowed to see the results of their choice in person or through official photos.

(Technical note: If you're a details buff, click on any of the photos below to see a larger versions.)

According to my copy of the 1931 edition of Forest Lawn Art Guide (published the same year that the GM's Memorial Terrace was publicly dedicated) crypts there are roomier than average, built from reinforced concrete with 3-4" thick dividing walls. After an interment is made, the crypt is sealed with a slab of concrete and that is then covered with a slab of marble.

There are two types of crypts ~ "couch crypts" which receive the casket sideways "enabling the family to picture the departed lying at ease as he did on his couch at home" and the "end open" crypt, which receives the casket lengthwise and "does not make quite so impressive a memorial."  (Yes, it really states that in the book.)

Family Sections are groups of end open crypts set back from the corridors and sectioned off by bronze gates. Actors who have this type of arrangement are Lon Chaney (whose request was to be unmarked) and Harold Lloyd.

 
Lon Chaney (portrait courtesy of Dr. Macro) in the Sanctuary of Meditation

 
Harold Lloyd in the Begonia Corridor

Private Family Mausoleums consist of a number of couch crypts set apart from the corridor in their own marble-lined room with names on either a bronze gate or above the entrance.  Actor Ben Turpin is entombed in a room with crypts on a side wall, featuring a prominently placed stained-glass window.

 
Ben Turpin in the Begonia Corridor

Example of name included on bronze gate.

There are also many elaborate family sarcophagus-n-statuary memorials, here's two of my favorites, both occupied:

Replica of Canova's The Three Graces

Replica of Donatello's St. George

In May 2008 I created a video tribute to six classic film notables entombed steps away from each other on the Memorial Terrace of the GM ~ Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, producer Irving Thalberg, Norma Shearer and Marie Dressler.  It's gotten a ton of hits since the Jackson plans were announced based on "Great Mausoleum" searches. Although it does not show the Holly Terrace where Michael is to be laid to rest, it does give you more examples of how celebrities have been interred there.