Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt

My mother always taught me that you can obtain anything in life that you want. She proved this when she became a commercial pilot in 1978. One of her big life secrets: “Always be able to laugh at yourself.”

My grandmother taught me many things: how to fish, bake, and even knit. And her secret for keeping cookies soft? “Place a piece of bread in your cookie jar, and your cookies will always be moist.

—Kenneth McKenzie

In Loving Memory

^{16 YEARS, 1938}

^{80 YEARS, 2002}

ALYCE K. MCKENZIE

APRIL 28, 1922–FEBRUARY 15, 2008

People usually ask me where my freewheeling sense of adventure comes from—writing a book like this, for example—and I tell them, hands down, it came from my grandma. My grandma’s unique sense of humor and spirited personality shaped my life and helped me achieve all that I have. I think the above photos show her personality. In the photo on the left the year was 1938, my grandma was 16, and she had just been at the Solano County Fair. Alyce—grandma—saw what were billed as “Live Nude Dancers” there (behind wooden fences, of course—it was 1938, after all). Later, tooling around with her friend Dorothy in Alyce’s Model T, they came upon a wooden fence. Dorothy posed a dare. Sixty-four years and a lot of bragging later, how could Alyce top that photo? Do it again at age eighty! Grandma, this book is dedicated to you.

—Kenny

A portion of the proceeds from Mortuary Confidential is being donated to KAMM Cares Foundation to help women battling breast cancer. For more information or to make a donation, please visit www.kammcares.org.