Those Who Don't Plan to Die Are Killing Their Families

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans plan their finances, their families, their retirement, just about everything -- except their funerals. That omission can mess up all their other life plans. A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die (Light Tree Press) will help families avoid emotional and financial disaster.

A Good Goodbye, a new book by Gail Rubin, brings light to a dark subject: from cremation to caskets, obituaries to obesity, religions to receptions. It illuminates how people can avoid stress at a time of grief, reduce family conflict, save thousands of dollars and create a meaningful, memorable send-off.

A Good Goodbye uses gentle humor to convey the vital information about funeral arrangements that most people don't learn about until there's a death in the family. The 228-page book includes new trends in death care, funeral traditions for major faiths, and even a chapter on pet loss and funerals.

"Just as talking about sex won't make you pregnant, talking about funerals won't make you dead -- and your family will benefit from the conversation," said Rubin. "This book may not seem like the perfect Christmas gift, but it may be the most valuable one."

A Good Goodbye features a free 10-page downloadable planning form, available at http://www.AGoodGoodbye.com, to preserve key information for family members. Valuable event planning guidance, tips, checklists and examples of memorable, meaningful memorial services are also included.

Gail Rubin is an event planner specializing in funerals and memorial services. She speaks regularly to groups on getting the funeral planning conversation started. Rubin, "The Doyenne of Death," will be a featured speaker at the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival in Nederland, Colorado, March 4-6, 2011.

As author of The Family Plot Blog (http://TheFamilyPlot.wordpress.com), Rubin attended and blogged about "30 funerals in 30 days" during November. The project documented the many creative ways today's funerals are evolving into celebration of life events.

A Good Goodbye is available for $21.95 in most bookstores, online at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and http://www.AGoodGoodbye.com. Discounts are available for bulk sales and presentations by calling Light Tree Press at 505-265-7215.

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SOURCE Gail Rubin