VIRTUAL – You Know You Should: Writing Meaningful Condolence Letters

Leader: Lee Webster, BA

Lee Webster is nationally known as a funeral reform advocate and educator, and the author of several home funeral and green burial books, including Changing Landscapes: Exploring the growth of ethical, compassionate and environmentally sustainable green funeral service and The Future of the Corpse: Our Changing Ecologies of Death and Disposition. She guest lectures at colleges, universities, senior and adult education programs, and mortuary schools throughout New England.

Your mother told you it’s the polite thing to do. Your teacher taught you how to lay it out on the page. But what, exactly, is the right thing to say when writing condolence notes? We’ll take a look at some famous—and infamous—condolence letters written by presidents, authors, and celebrities to see how we can avoid the pitfalls and rise to the occasion with sincerity and panache when reaching out to others when a loved one dies.

• This program is available for livestreaming at the Aging Resource Center for people without devices or with unstable internet. 
• If you are participating by Zoom, the link will be sent directly from the Aging Resource Center to the email you registered with about 60 minutes before the program starts.