People and Happenings Volunteer Profile :
Susan Zawalich
“ Booth and the Bard ”
By Lauren Marsh
It is no secret that Volunteer Susan Zawalich has a flare for all things literary . She made her debut at Mount Auburn as part of our second group of docent trainees , but she had been giving tours here on her own for ten years prior to that . In her “ real ” life , she is the administrator of the student center at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard and one of
Susan Zawalich at the grave of Edwin Booth the outings that she deems essential for students to experience is a two-hour autumn walk through Mount Auburn to visit some of her favorite notables .
As a docent , Susan has given a variety of different tours . Among her favorites is one called “ Notable Visitors ” and another aptly named “ A to Z ” that she (“ Z ”) creates with her friend and fellow docent , Helen Abrams (“ A ”). Her literary tour ,“ The Undiscovered Country : Shakespeare & Mount Auburn ,” explores the gravesites of Shakespearian actors like Edwin Booth and Charlotte Cushman in addition to monuments bearing the inscriptions of the Bard ’ s memorable works .
Her favorite stone , designed by Stanford White , is Edwin Booth ’ s . The front of the monument boasts a bust of the actor ’ s face while on the backside , under carved comedy and tragedy masks , is a paraphrased inscription from Much
Ado About Nothing : The idea of thy life shall Sweetly creep Into my study of imagination And every lovely organ of Thy life Shall come apparelled in More precious habit More moving delicate and Full of life Into the eye and prospect Of my soul Than when thou liv ’ st indeed .
Ever instructive , Susan explains that thousands of mourners attended his funeral in New York City and that his burial service at the Cemetery included friends and fellow Mount Auburn residents Julia Ward Howe and Thomas Bailey Aldrich . Aldrich later penned ,
In narrow space , with Booth , lie housed in death Iago , Hamlet , Shylock , Lear , Macbeth If still they seem to walk the painted scene , ‘ Tis but the ghosts of those that once have been .
“ Shakespeare is everywhere ,” says Susan ,“ and poetry is everywhere and it all ties in with the beauty of the setting , and it ties in with the birds , and with the trees , and with the weather . It ties in with the art and melancholy . It ties in with everything in the Cemetery .”
We thank Susan for her time as a Mount Auburn volunteer docent and for the energy she has spent dreaming up creative tours that touch on the literary aspects of this natural world . Make sure to sign up for one of her future tours – thou shan ’ t be disappointed !
“ Shakespeare is everywhere ,” says Susan , “ and poetry is everywhere and it all ties in with the beauty of the setting , and it ties in with the birds , and with the trees , and with the weather . It ties in with the art and melancholy . It ties in with everything in the Cemetery .”
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Education & Volunteer Coordinator Jessica Bussmann and Susan on a fall tour