"If I Die" app for Facebook

I just read about this in a funeral industry publication, Connecting Directors. Check it out:

"Facebook profiles don’t die the same way people do. If I Die is a Facebook app that makes sure, even if you die, your social self can still send out your last wishes and post messages to your friends years after you’re gone.
If I Die lets “you” post a final message to your wall and loved one when you’re dead. After installing the app, you choose three “trustees” (Facebook friends) who are charged with verifying your death. Users can then record videos or craft any number of Facebook posts to be published posthumously. When your trustees confirm your death, your messages can be published all at once to your Facebook wall or released on a designated schedule..." Click to read full post on the Connecting Directors blog.

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Press on The Party of Your Life

Here's another mention of my book, on the blog, BelleVie memorial urns. Here's an excerpt.

"One author, Erika Dillman, has taken the art of planning your own funeral to new heights and she’s written a book called “The Party of Your Life: Get the Funeral You Want by Planning it Yourself.” In this book, she talks about the benefits of taking the time to plan your “going away party” to ensure that it’s exactly what you want. Now, more than ever, people want more control over their funeral and why should you be any different?" Click to read article.

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Celebrate Zora

52 years ago tomorrow, novelist (and author of Their Eyes Were Watching God) Zora Neale Hurston died. If you don't know about her, you should. If you haven't read the book it, you should. Click to read more about her.

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Best Tagline for a Funeral Home

 A friend just alerted me to this one-of-kind funeral home tagline:

"This ain't no ranky, danky Funeral Home.
This is a first class funeral home,
run by first class people."

It's from the Eternal Rest Funeral Home in Houston, TX. Email me with your favorite funeral home taglines!

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Read at Excerpt from The Party of Your Life

Hello, I've just posted a sample chapter from The Party of Your Life on my website. Click here to read it.

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"Your Life, Your Funeral"

This article about my book was published in the Chicago Tribune (and suburban editions) yesterday.

By William Hageman, Tribune Newspapers

January 9, 2012

Erika Dillman comes by her interest in death naturally.

"My grandparents were in the business," she says. "They sold embalming fluid."

When she was 8, her grandparents took her to a funeral convention — what kid wouldn't be thrilled? — where she picked out a particular casket in which she wanted to be buried. 

"I knew your funeral was something you had to plan for, to buy things for," she says. "Now, it's the party aspect I'm obsessed with." 

Dillman has written "The Party of Your Life: Get the Funeral You Want by Planning It Yourself" (Santa Monica Press). In it, she not only makes a good case for a memorable, personalized funeral, but also explains how to pull it off and why it's becoming more common. 

"People want more control. They want a more personal occasion. Those are the two main things," she says. "They want to personalize it and have something meaningful for them. ... They want something more than a church service and burial." 

She says she hopes the main thing that people take away from the book is the notion that it's OK to do what they want, not what survivors might think they would have wanted.  Continue reading article.

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Another Review on Amazon.com

"5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, January 5, 2012By
Katie Yates - See all my reviewsThis review is from: The Party of Your Life: Get the Funeral You Want by Planning It Yourself (Paperback) I come from a tradition which emphasizes that 'death comes without warning' and thus the beautiful humor and specificity of Erika Dillman's 'The Party of Your Life' as a fearless and compassionate, completely helpful adventure into what happens next. A must read. A must have."
       

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A Review on Amazon.com

"5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, Thoughtful and Practical, January 7, 2012By
Jeff Eisenbrey - See all my reviewsThis review is from: The Party of Your Life: Get the Funeral You Want by Planning It Yourself (Paperback) I first picked up Erika Dillman's book at a party and my wife took it out of my hands because I'd become anti-social. Dillman was the most interesting person in the house. What was I to do? I bought the book.
The funniest people are those who know too much about how people are, and on the subject of kicking the bucket people are, well . . . funny. The author finds a lot of material here and clearly has a blast with it. Reading her book is a rare combination of laugh-out-loud funny and revelatory. It turns out that there's a lot to know about the handling of corpses, emotions, relatives, and legal matters. Dillman has done her research and she delivers it in a wry and lively package.

The best part, for me, was having my imagination shoved out of the nest to flap around party planning. Themed funerals?! Really?! Cool! Decorations, dress-up, music, those choice last words. Read it with your spouse. Visit with your favorite fading relative and you'll have a lot to talk about. Or you could leave it out at a party and see what happens."       

Thanks for visiting. Click to visit The Party of Your Life website.