Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn A Dynamic and Evolving Landscape | Page 18

Introducing

The Lively Place
In his new book, author Stephen Kendrick
celebrates the spirit of Mount Auburn, past and present.
Whe n Stephen Kendrick first began exploring
Mount Auburn as a student at Harvard Divinity School
in the 1970s, he could not have predicted the long
relationship he would come to develop with this place.
Kendrick, Senior Minister at First Church in Boston,
Unitarian Universalist, has offered words of comfort while
officiating funerals and memorial services at the Cemetery,
served as featured speaker at our Candle Lighting Service
and our Service of Commemoration, and currently serves
on our Council of Visitors. Over the years, Kendrick has
learned much about the Cemetery and its history, fueling
his fascination with Mount Auburn. In tribute to the
Cemetery, his new book, The Lively Place: Mount Auburn,
America’s First Garden Cemetery, and its Revolutionary and
Literary Residents, has been published by Beacon Press this
spring.
In The Lively Place, Kendrick leads readers on a fascinating journey through Mount Auburn’s winding paths and
avenues while introducing the personalities that have
16 | Sweet Auburn

shaped the Cemetery into the lively place it is today.
Kendrick, who refers to himself as “historian-minister,”
shares highlights of the Cemetery’s history, stories of its
notable residents,
and interviews with
current staff to create a dynamic and
engaging portrait
of Mount Auburn,
unlike anything that
has previously been
written. Illustrations by
architect and illustrator
Matthew Longo appear
throughout the book,
further conveying the
beauty and mysteries of
this beloved landscape.