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I have an aversion to performance art that trumps my fears of eight-legged insects and meteor strikes combined. The concept conjures notions of naked recent graduates of adolescence arranging themselves in Abu Ghraib-like piles or digging in boxes of dirt, to an Edgard Varése soundtrack. So, when Gerard Rinaldi suggested at the outset of our conversation that his collection of photographs on display at Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library could best be described as a “performance piece about death,” I eyed a nearby bottle of Jack Daniels.... Read more

On Memorial Day 2007, Boris and Marina Katsnelson went to Lakeview Cemetery and planted flowers around the grave of their daughter, Alla, who died at the age of 22 in September 2004.... Read more

Ezzedine Fatnassi takes comfort in knowing that when his time comes, he can be buried in a Muslim-only section of a cemetery in his adopted hometown of Burlington.

Fatnassi, a 54-year-old immigrant from Tunisia, helped negotiate an agreement last summer that sets aside 60 burial plots for Muslims in the city-owned Lakeview Cemetery.... Read more

BRISTOL — Here’s an opportunity to die for. Some Bristol-area residents are aiming to develop New England’s first eco-cemetery on the grounds of a local conservation area. The advocates envision non-embalmed bodies in pine boxes or cotton shrouds being buried in unmarked graves on a small portion of the 644-acre site known as the Waterworks Property.... Read more

Richard Winter’s pine prototype rests against the wall of his East Calais workshop — a massive, 7-foot-tall, wide-shouldered hexagon, and home sweet home for all eternity. There’s no mistaking this baby: It’s your classic Dracula-style coffin. But to Winter, a cabinet and furniture maker with 28 years under his tool belt, it’s like any other piece of furniture. Since 2000, he’s crafted and sold about 10 caskets as a sideline — called Vermont Coffins — to his woodworking business.... Read more

You never see Burlington’s Lakeview Cemetery ranked among the area’s tourist attractions, but this elegantly landscaped graveyard is an ideal place to take a meditative waterfront stroll — and get a free local history lesson.... Read more

Talking about death can be difficult. We may enjoy watching mobsters get whacked on “The Sopranos,” but contemplating the end of our own lives — or those of our loved ones — is scary.

Unfortunately, our reluctance to discuss end-of-life issues can make dying an isolating and even more painful experience for patients and their families.... Read more

VERMONT - Emotionally charged advertising and lobbying campaigns are intensifying as the state legislature heads for a showdown on a bill that would permit terminally ill Vermonters to end their lives with the help of their doctors.

The two sides in the increasingly fervent debate can't even agree on how to refer to the focal point of the controversy. Supporters say the legislation will facilitate "death with dignity," while opponents warn that Vermont is on the verge of becoming the second state in the nation to legalize "physician-assisted suicide."... Read more

Any mother can appreciate the bond that held Elizabeth Knox to her daughter on the day in October 1995 when 7-year-old Alison Sanders was pronounced brain-dead from the impact of an airbag that deployed during a low-speed car accident. Even after the life-support machines were disconnected and her heart stopped beating, Alison was still Knox's child, and the mother needed time to let go.... Read more

Many people's last memories of their loved ones are also the most lasting. Events that occur in the final days leading up to the death of a friend or family member can be a graceful coda on a well-lived life - or an aching wound that never fully heals. When Stephen Kiernan reflects on his parents' last days, he sees opposite ends of a spectrum ranging from "tragedy in slow motion" to "a beautiful death."... Read more