Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn A Healing and Meditative Landscape | Page 29

People and Happenings
On October 5th, we held a Sustainability Fair at our greenhouse for
people interested in our Citizen Science program and our sustainable
landscape maintenance plan.
On October 11th, a sold-out crowd filled Story Chapel for an author
talk with Caitlin Doughty—host of “Ask a Mortician,” founder of
The Order of the Good Death and New York Times best-selling
author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes for a talk about her new book,
From Here to Eternity.
A Special Night
On October 18, 2017, special Friends and members
were invited to an exclusive concert and dinner at the home
of Trustee Eliza Anderson. Guests wined and dined in this
beautiful National Historic Landmark, whose most notable
On November 4th, Composer-in-Residence Mary Bichner and a
19-piece orchestra performed the world premiere of Mount Auburn:
Autumn Suite in Story Chapel. Mary spent the previous year writ-
ing music inspired by the landscape of Mount Auburn and words from
resident poets.
On November 5th, The New England Association for Gravestone
Studies held their Southeastern New England/Cape Cod and
North East New England Chapter Conference at the Cemetery.
occupant was Asa Gray (1810–1888), a leading botanist who
published the first complete work on American flora and a
vigorous defender of the Darwinian theory of evolution. Asa
Gray Garden, Mount Auburn’s centerpiece garden currently
under renovation, honors this world-famous botanist. Guests
were treated to a special concert by members of the Handel
and Haydn Society, who demonstrated newly discovered
connections between two of the oldest organizations in
Greater Boston. Presented by Teresa Neff, Christopher
Hogwood Fellow, and with music performed by contralto
Emily Marvosh, baritone David McFerrin, cellist Sarah
Freiberg, and pianist Ian Watson, guests enjoyed works by
Arthur Foote (1853–1937), George Whitefield Chadwick
(1854–1931), and John Knowles Paine (1839–1906), all
interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery. For more information
on all our special events, please contact us at 617.607.1949.
2018 Volume 1 | 27