On this day in 1519, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, Lady of Pesaro and Gradara, Duchess of Bisceglie and Princess of Salerno, Duchess of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia Borgia died in Ferrara, Italy at the age of 39 from complications after giving birth to her eighth child, having had a lifelong history of complicated pregnancies and miscarriages. Born in Subiaco, near Rome on 18 April 1480. Her mother was Vannozza dei Cattanei, one of the mistresses of Lucrezia’s father, Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI). Her brothers included Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, and Gioffre Borgia. Lucrezia’s family later came to epitomize the ruthless Machiavellian politics and sexual corruption characteristic of the Renaissance Papacy. Lucrezia was cast as a femme fatale, a role she has been portrayed as in many artworks, novels, films and an opera. Very little is known of Lucrezia, and the extent of her complicity in the political machinations of her father and brothers is unclear. They certainly arranged several marriages for her to important or powerful men in order to advance their own political ambitions. Lucrezia was married to Giovanni Sforza (Lord of Pesaro), Alfonso of Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie), and Alfonso I d’Este (Duke of Ferrara). Tradition has it that Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples and that Lucrezia’s brother Cesare may have had him murdered after his political value waned.
The Final Footprint – Lucrezia was entombed in the convent of Corpus Domini. On 15 October 1816, the Romantic poet Lord Byron visited the Ambrosian Library of Milan. He was delighted by the letters between Borgia and her one-time lover, poet Pietro Bembo (“The prettiest love letters in the world”) and claimed to have managed to steal a lock of her hair (“the prettiest and fairest imaginable”) held on display. Victor Hugo’s 1833 stage play Lucrèce Borgia, loosely based on the stories of Lucrezia, was transformed into a libretto by Felice Romani for Donizetti’s opera, Lucrezia Borgia (1834), first performed at La Scala, Milan, 26 December 1834.
#RIP #OTD in 1909 novelist, short story writer (The Country of the Pointed Firs), poet, Sarah Orne Jewett died in her South Berwick, Maine from a stroke aged 59. Portland Street Cemetery, South Berwick, Maine
#RIP #OTD in 1933 soprano, called “The Black Patti” in reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti, Sissieretta
Jones died from cancer at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island aged 64-65. Grace Church Cemetery, Providence
#OTD #RIP in 1935 French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, the most prominent figure in the history of tango, «El Zorzal”, “The King of Tango” Carlos Gardel died in an airplane crash in Medellín, Columbia, aged 44. La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires
On this day in 1987 comedian, actor and musician Jackie Gleason died at his home in Lauderhill, Florida at the age of 71. Born Herbert Walton Gleason, Jr. on 26 February 1916 in either Bushwick or Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Perhaps best known for his role on television as Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners and for The Jackie Gleason Show (1952-1970). His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The Hustler (1961) starring Paul Newman, and as Buford T. Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit movie series. Gleason married three times; Genevieve Halford (1936-1970 divorce), Beverly McKittrick (1970-1975 divorce) and Marilyn Taylor (1975-1987 his death). His trademark phrases were “And away we go!” and “How sweet it is!”. In my opinion, The Honymooners is, without question, the “Bang, Zoom” funniest show that ever aired on television. And I will stand on Jerry Seinfeld’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that. I remember watching The Jackie Gleason Show as a kid. Gleason was hilarious in Smokey and the Bandit.
The Final Footprint – Gleason is entombed in a private mausoleum in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, Florida. Engraved at the base of the mausoleum is his epitaph; “AND AWAY WE GO”. A life-size statue of Gleason, in full uniform as bus driver Ralph Kramden, stands outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. Another statue stands at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in North Hollywood, California, showing Gleason in his famous “And away we go!” pose. Local signs on the Brooklyn Bridge, which indicate to drivers that they are entering Brooklyn, have the Gleason phrase “How Sweet It Is!” as part of the sign.
On this day in 2014, actor, graduate of the University of Texas, Eli Wallach died of natural causes at the age of 98 in Manhattan. Born Eli Herschel Wallach on 7 December 1915 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Wallach’s career spanned more than six decades, beginning in the late 1940s. On stage, he often co-starred with his wife, Anne Jackson, becoming one of the best-known acting couples in the American theater. Wallach initially studied method acting under Sanford Meisner, and later became a founding member of the Actors Studio, where he studied under Lee Strasberg. His versatility gave him the ability to play a wide variety of different roles throughout his career, primarily as a supporting actor.
For his debut screen performance in Baby Doll, he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Among his other most famous roles are; Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960), Guido in The Misfits (1961), and Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Don Altobello in The Godfather Part III, Cotton Weinberger in The Two Jakes (both 1990), and Arthur Abbott in The Holiday (2006). One of America’s most prolific screen actors, Wallach remained active well into his nineties, with roles as recently as 2010 in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and The Ghost Writer.
Wallach received BAFTA Awards, Tony Awards and Emmy Awards for his work, and received an Academy Honorary Award at the second annual Governors Awards, presented on November 13, 2010. Wallach and Jackson were married from 1948 until his death.
The Final Footprint – Wallach was cremated.
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On this day in 1891 author Herman Melville died at his home in New York City at age 72 from cardiac dilation. Born in New York City on 1 August 1819. Best known for the novel Moby-Dick. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, became a bestseller), but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. It was not until the “Melville Revival” in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick, which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. In 1919, the unfinished manuscript for his novella Billy Budd was discovered by his first biographer, Raymond M. Weaver, who published a version in 1924. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America. Melville married Elizabeth Shaw (1847 – 1891 his death).
The Final Footprint – He was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Other notable Final Footprints at Woodlawn include; Irving Berlin, Miles Davis (see below), Duke Ellington, Fiorello La Guardia, Lionel Hampton, Rowland Macy, Bat Masterson, J. C. Penney, Joseph Pulitzer, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
On this day in 1966, French writer, poet, anarchist and anti-fascist, the founder of Surrealism, André Breton died at 70. Born on 19 February 1896 in Tinchebray (Orne) in Normandy.Perhaps best known as the co-founder, leader, principal theorist and chief apologist of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto (Manifeste du surréalisme) of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as “pure psychic automatism”.
On this day in 1991, multiple Grammy winner, trumpeter, bandleader and composer Miles Davis died in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. Born Miles Dewey Davis III on 26 May 1926 in Alton, Illinois. In my opinion he is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. On 7 October 2008, his 1959 album Kind of Blue received its fourth platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least four million copies in the United States. On 15 December 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a symbolic resolution recognizing and commemorating the album Kind of Blue on its 50th anniversary, “honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure”. He was knighted into the Légion d’honneur or Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur in Paris. In my opinion, Kind of Blue is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. I heard someone say once, if you do not own Kind of Blue, something is wrong with you. Yes, I own a copy. Davis married actress Cicely Tyson on 26 November 1981. The ceremony was conducted by Atlanta mayor Andrew Young at the home of actor Bill Cosby. Davis and Tyson divorced in 1988.
The Final Footprint – Davis is buried with one of his trumpets, in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. His grave is marked by a large black granite engraved rectangular monument. It is inscribed, In Memory of Sir Miles Davis and has a music scale and a trumpet engraved in the granite. A bronze statue of Davis was erected in Kielce, Poland. Other notable Final Footprints at Woodlawn include; Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Fiorello La Guardia, Rowland Macy, Bat Masterson, Herman Melville (see above), J. C. Penney, Joseph Pulitzer, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
On this day in 2003, film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor Elia Kazan died from natural causes in his Manhattan apartment aged 94. Born Elias Kazantzoglou on September 7, 1909 in Constantinople, now Istanbul. In my opinion, one of the most honored and influential, and controversial, directors in Broadway and Hollywood history.
nd on this day in 2010, director and producer of film, television and theater, Arthur Penn died in Manhattan a day after his 88th birthday from congestive heart failure. Born Arthur Hiller Penn on September 27, 1922 in Philadelphia. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 1960s such as the drama The Chase (1966), the biographical crime film Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and the comedy Alice’s Restaurant (1969). He also received attention for his acclaimed revisionist Western Little Big Man (1970), Night Moves (1975) and The Missouri Breaks (1976). In the 1990s he returned to stage and television direction and production, including an executive producer role for the crime series Law & Order. By his death he had been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Director, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, two Emmys, and two Directors Guild of America Awards. He was the recipient of several honorary accolades, including an Honorary Golden Bear, a Tony Award, and an Akira Kurosawa Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival.
The Final Footprint – Degas is entombed in the Famille de Gas private mausoleum in the Cimetiere de Montmartre in Paris. Other notable final footprints at Montmartre include; Hector Berlioz, Dalida, Alexandre Dumas, fils, Théophile Gautier, Jeanne Moreau, Jacques Offenbach, François Truffaut, and Alfred de Vigny.
On this day in 1961, early modernist poet, novelist, essayist, H. D., Hilda Doolittle died from complications of a stroke in the Klinik Hirslanden in Zürich, aged 75. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded the avant-garde Imagist group of poets with the American expatriate poet and critic Ezra Pound. During this early period her minimalist and free verse works drew international attention. Over time her output developed to longer and more complex Epic poetry and prose.
The Final Footprint – Cremated remains interred in the family plot in the Nisky Hill Cemetery, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on October 28, 1961. Her headstone is inscribed with lines from her early poem “Epitaph”:
On this day in 1965, actress (Man Trap, It, Wings), rancher, “The It Girl” Clara Bow died of a heart attack in Culver City, California, aged 60. Born Clara Gordon Bow in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn at 697 Bergen Street.
The Final Footprint – Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
On this day in 1986 Metallica bassist Cliff Burton died when their tour bus crashed in Ljungby Municipality, near Dörarp in rural southern Sweden. Born Clifford Lee Burton on 10 February 1962 in Castro Valley, California. Burton joined Metallica in 1982 and performed on the band’s first three studio albums, Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets. He also received a posthumous writing credit for the song “To Live Is to Die” from the band’s fourth studio album …And Justice For All.
On this day in 2017, businessman, magazine publisher, and playboy Hugh Hefner died at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles at the age of 91. Born Hugh Marston Hefner on April 9, 1926 in Chicago. He was the founder of Playboy and editor-in-chief of the magazine, which he founded in 1953. An advocate of sexual liberation and freedom of expression, Hefner was a political activist and philanthropist in several other causes and public issues.
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On this day in 1973, stage and film actress, La Lupa, Anna Magnani died from pancreatic cancer in Rome at the age of 65. Born on 7 March 1908 in Rome. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo.
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On this day in 2003, singer, songwriter, musician, Robert Palmer died in Paris at the Hôtel Warwick Champs-Elysées, rue de Berri, from a heart attack at the age of 54. Born Robert Allen Palmer on 19 January 1949 in Batley, West Yorkshire, England. Palmer was known for his distinctive voice and the eclectic mix of musical styles on his albums, combining soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae and blues. He found success both in his solo career and in the musical act The Power Station, and had Top 10 songs in both the UK and the US. His iconic music videos by Terence Donovan for the hits “Addicted to Love” and “Simply Irresistible” featured identically dressed dancing women with pale faces, dark eye makeup and bright red lipstick, which resembled the women in the art of Patrick Nagel, an artist popular in the 1980s. Sharp-suited, his involvement in the music industry commenced in the 1960s, and covered five decades. Palmer received a number of awards throughout his career, including two Grammy Awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, an MTV Video Music Award, and was twice nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male. Palmer married twice: Shelly Putman (1974 – 1978 divorce) and Susan Eileen Thatcher (1979 – 1999 divorce).
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On this day in 2008, Academy Award winning actor, director, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and auto racing enthusiast Paul Newman died at his home surrounded by his family and friends in Westport, Connecticut at the age of 83. Born Paul Leonard Newman on 26 January 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the 1986 Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money and eight other nominations, six Golden Globe Awards (including three honorary ones), a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy award, and many honorary awards. He also won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing, and his race teams won several championships in open wheel IndyCar racing. Newman was a co-founder of Newman’s Own, a food company from which Newman donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. One of my favorite actors. My favorite movies with Newman; Cat on a hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The Sting, The Color of Money. Newman married twice: Jackie Witte (1949 – 1958 divorce) and actress Joanne Woodward (1958 – 2008 his death).
On this day in 1991, author, poet and illustrator, Dr. Seuss died of throat cancer at his home in La Jolla, California at the age of 87. Born Theodore Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts on 2 March 1904. In my opinion, he was the best author and illustrator of children’s books. Geisel published 46 children’s books, often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of anapestic meter. His most celebrated books include the bestselling Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton Hears a Who!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Numerous adaptations of his work have been created, including 11 television specials, four feature films, a Broadway musical and four television series. He won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 for Horton Hatches the Egg and again in 1961 for And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Geisel also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for Flit and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for PM, a New York City newspaper. During World War II, he worked in an animation department of the United States Army, where he wrote Design for Death, a film that later won the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Christmas would not be Christmas without watching and reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Geisel married twice; children’s author Helen Palmer (1927 – 1967 her death) and Audrey Stone Dimond (1968 – 1991 his death).
On this day in 2016,
The Final Footprint – Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris.
On this day in 1989, Tony and Grammy winner, songwriter, composer, lyricist Irving Berlin died in New York City at the age of 101. Born Israel Isidore Baline on 11 May 1888 in Tyumen, Russia, now Belarus. In my opinion, one of the greatest songwriters. Among the many songs he wrote; God Bless America, White Christmas, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, There’s no Business like Show Business, Blue Skies, Puttin’ on the Ritz. Composer Douglas Moore sets Berlin apart from all other contemporary songwriters, and includes him instead with Stephen Foster, Walt Whitman, and Carl Sandburg, as a “great American minstrel”—someone who has “caught and immortalized in his songs what we say, what we think about, and what we believe.” George Gershwin called him “the greatest songwriter that has ever lived”, and Jerome Kern concluded that “Irving Berlin has no place in American music—he is American music.” In 1912, he married Dorothy Goetz. She died six months later of typhoid fever, which she contracted during their honeymoon in Havana. The song he wrote to express his grief, “When I Lost You,” was his first ballad. In 1925 he married Ellin Mackay. Their marriage remained a love affair and they were inseparable until she died in July 1988 at the age of 85.
On this day in 1999, stage and film actor, director and producer George C. Scott died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in Westlake Village, California, at the age of 71. Born George Campbell Scott on October 18, 1927 in Wise, Virginia. Perhaps best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Ebenezer Scrooge in Clive Donner’s 1984 film A Christmas Carol and Lieutenant Bill Kinderman in William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III.
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On this day in 2007 actor and mime artist Marcel Marceau died at the racetrack in Cahors, France, at the age of 84. Born Marcel Mangel on 22 March 1923 in Strasbourg, France. Perhas best known for his stage persona as “Bip the Clown”. He referred to mime as the “art of silence”, and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. As a youth, he lived in hiding and worked with the French Resistance during most of World War II, giving his first major performance to 3000 troops after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Following the war, he studied dramatic art and mime in Paris.
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On this day in 2010, singer and actor Eddie Fisher died 
On this day in 2015, U. S. Navy veteran, Purple Heart recipient, MLB Hall of Fame catcher, manager, 3x AL MVP, 18x All Star, 10x World Series champ, New York Yankee Yogi Berra died in West Caldwell, New Jersey, 69 years to the day after his MLB debut, at the age of 90. Born Lawrence Peter Berra on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He played 19 seasons (1946–63, 1965), all but the last for the Yankees. Berra had a career batting average of .285, while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. In my opinion, one of the greatest catchers in baseball history
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On this day in 19 BC, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period, Virgil died in Brundisium harbor at the age of 50. Born Publius Vergilius Maro on October 15, 70 BC Near Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul, Roman Republic (now Province of Mantua, Italy). He wrote three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him.
On this day in 1832, Scottish novelist, playwright and poet, Sir Walter Scott died, under unexplained circumstances, at the age of 61 at his home Abbotsford House near Melrose in the Scottish borders. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. His best known works include the novels, Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor and his poem The Lady of the Lake. Scott married Charlotte Genevieve Charpentier (or Carpenter), daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon, France. Born on 15 August 1771 in College Wynd in the Old Town of Edinburgh.
The Final Footprint – Scott is buried in a pillared side chapel of the Dryburgh Abbery ruins in Melrose. During his lifetime, Scott’s portrait was painted by Sir Edwin Landseer and fellow-Scots Sir Henry Raeburn and James Eckford Lauder. In Edinburgh, the 61.1 metre tall Victorian Gothic spire of the Scott Monument was designed by George Meikle Kemp. It was completed in 1844, 12 years after Scott’s death, and dominates the south side of Princes Street. Scott is also commemorated on a stone slab in Makars’ Court, outside The Writers’ Museum, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, along with other prominent Scottish writers; quotes from his work are also visible on the Canongate Wall of the Scottish Parliament building in Holyrood. There is a tower dedicated to his memory on Corstorphine Hill in the west of the city and as mentioned previous Edinburgh’s Waverley railway station takes the name of one of his novels. In Glasgow, Walter Scott’s Monument dominates the centre of George Square, the main public square in the city. Designed by David Rhind in 1838, the monument features a large column topped by a statue of Scott. There is a statue of Scott in New York City’s Central Park. The annual Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction was created in 2010 by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Sir Walter Scott. At £25,000 it is one of the largest prizes in British literature. The award has been presented at Scott’s historic home Abbotsford House.
The Final Footprint – Croce is buried at Haym Salomon Cemetery in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
On this day in 1973, singer, songwriter, musician Gram Parsons died in Joshua Tree, California, at the age of 26 from an overdose of morphine and alcohol. Born Ingram Cecil Connor III on 5 November 1946, in Winter Haven, Florida. Parsons is best known for his work within the country music genre; he also popularized what he called “Cosmic American Music”, a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock. Besides recording as a solo artist, he also worked in several notable bands, including the International Submarine Band, The Byrds, and The Flying Burrito Brothers. His relatively short career is described by Allmusic as “enormously influential” for both country and rock, “blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other.” Parsons apparently developed an interest in country music while attending Harvard University. He founded the International Submarine Band in 1966, and after several months of delay their debut, Safe at Home, was released in 1968, by which time the group had disbanded. Parsons joined The Byrds in early 1968, and played a pivotal role in the making of the seminal Sweetheart of the Rodeo album. After leaving the group in late 1968, Parsons and fellow Byrd Chris Hillman formed The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969, releasing their debut, The Gilded Palace of Sin, the same year. The album was well received but failed commercially. After a cross-country tour, they recorded Burrito Deluxe. Parsons was fired from the band before its release in early 1970. He soon signed with A&M Records, but after several unproductive sessions he canceled his intended solo debut in early 1971. Parsons moved to France, where he lived for a short period at Villa Nellcôte with his friend Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. Returning to America, Parsons befriended Emmylou Harris, who assisted him on vocals for his first solo record, GP, released in 1973. Although it received enthusiastic reviews, the release failed to chart; his next album, Grievous Angel met with a similar reception, and peaked at number 195 on Billboard.
The Final Footprint – Parsons’ body disappeared from the Los Angeles International Airport where it was being readied to be shipped to Louisiana for burial. Prior to his death, Parsons stated that he wanted his body cremated at Joshua Tree and his ashes spread over Cap Rock, a prominent natural feature there; however, Parsons’ stepfather, Robert Parson, arranged for a private ceremony back in New Orleans and neglected to invite any of his friends from the music industry. To fulfill Parsons’ funeral wishes, his friend Phil Kaufman stole his body from the airport and in a borrowed hearse drove it to Joshua Tree. Upon reaching the Cap Rock section of the park, they attempted to cremate Parsons’ corpse by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a lit match inside. What resulted was an enormous fireball. The police gave chase but, as one account puts it, “were encumbered by sobriety,” and the men escaped. The two were arrested several days later. Since there was no law against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 for stealing the coffin and were not prosecuted for leaving 35 lbs of his charred remains in the desert. 
Parsons body was eventually buried in Garden of Memories of Metairie, Louisiana. The site of Parsons’ cremation was marked by a small concrete slab and was presided over by a large rock flake known to rock climbers as The Gram Parsons Memorial Hand Traverse. The slab has since been removed by the U.S. National Park Service, and relocated to the Joshua Tree Inn. There is no monument at Cap Rock noting Parsons’ cremation at the site. Joshua Tree park guides are given the option to tell the story of Parsons’ cremation during tours, but there is no mention of the act in official maps or brochures. Fans regularly assemble simple rock structures and writings on the rock, which the park service sand blasts to remove from time to time.
