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[whitespace] www.findagrave.com

Dead Reckoning

An Internet directory catalogs the graves of the famous and the not-so-famous

By Andrea Perkins

HAVE YOU ever wonder where Mr. Ed is buried? How about Fred Pabst, the beer magnate? If so, add www.findagrave.com to your bookmarks. After all, you never know when you might need to ascertain where departed members of the cast of Hee Haw are interred. Most of the cataloged graves of famous folks, which encompass businessmen, suffragists, crime victims and others, come with high-quality photos of the graves themselves, a goldmine for epitaph writers. In addition, this site provides over 2.5 million unfamous graves. I was flabbergasted when I typed in my great-grandfather's name and found that he was actually listed, right down to his plot number.

This is no fru-fru operation, but a sophisticated site for those who consider Memorial Day more than just a three-day weekend, and for trivia addicts seeking new tidbits with which to mesmerize their co-workers. Here's an example: "Hey, do you guys know where the first weather forecaster, Cleveland Abbe, is buried?" Or: "Guess where Roy Rogers' dog, Bullet, is now?"

Fun and educational as it is, however, the site still has a few bugs, like when you try to get back to the homepage and instead get entire pages of strange ad banners.

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From the December 27, 2000-January 3, 2001 issue of Metro Santa Cruz.

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