Page 145 - Demo

AfterwordWhen the idea for this book first started to gel, my wife, Lynn, and I knew of a number Indiana cemeteries that contained statues. In fact, we photographed some for my last book, Lingering Spirit. Although we didn%u2019t know for sure, we assumed there would be many more statues besides those we%u2019d already seen. And our assumption proved correct.According to the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, which is a part of Indiana%u2019s Department of Natural Resources, there are an estimated 125,000 graveyards and cemeteries in Indiana. Some are very large, particularly those in cities and towns, but the ones out in the country tend to be quite a bit smaller. In fact, many are family plots containing as few as one or two graves. Even by limiting the scope of this project to the southern half of Indiana, we knew we couldn%u2019t possibly visit every single cemetery. That would be too daunting a task. So, I started contacting people in each county who I thought might be familiar with the area%u2019s cemeteries. Over several weeks, I spoke to, or emailed, dozens of county historians, funeralhome directors, monument dealers, groundskeepers, and grave diggers, as well as librarians and genealogical-society personnel. Most were quite helpful, and I%u2019d like to thank them all for their time and enthusiastic tips. I%u2019d also like to sincerely thank Claude Cookman for his wonderful Foreword. He truly understood my mission.After getting leads for the entire area, Lynn and I prepared to start out, on a series of day trips, looking for cemetery statues. Lynn is a exceptional partner, and she%u2019s a tremendous help when I%u2019m shooting%u2014scouting for good shots, locating smaller interesting statues, holding a reflector to balance the lighting, and offering helpful suggestions. With an accordion folder full of county maps, we plotted routes that would connect all the cemeteries on our list. A few leads turned out to be duds, but most led us to some lovely statues. Of course, we checked out all the cemeteries we passed, even though they weren%u2019t on our list%u2014and were pleased to locate a number of additional statues. Sometimes we paid 2 or 3 visits to a cemetery to get better light, or more interesting clouds.Union CemeteryOhio Co. (437-15)photo by Lynn Bower