Langley Author Raises the Dead

Cemeteries hold fascinating information about the people who came before us, and just in time for Halloween author Warren Sommer raises the dead (or rather, a few eyebrows), with his new book Frail Memorials: The Cemeteries of Langley.

Unearthing the stories of Langley's early residents, Sommer reveals the history of one of British Columbia's oldest communities through a look at its cemeteries. The city's funerary monuments mark not only a passing, they are telling social documents testifying to the cultures of past generations, providing fertile ground for discussing the lives and deaths of many who rest within them.

From the carpenter who was buried in the grave he had dug for another, to the farmer who died on Christmas day while felling a tree not far from what became his own burial place, author Warren Sommer captures the stories that lie just below the surface in Langley's historic cemeteries.

"Warren Sommer's excellent social history of burial customs and cemeteries is a fascinating look at one of life's inevitabilities,"; enthuses author Michael Kluckner, "adding another dimension to our understanding of British Columbia in its early years.";

Frail Memorials is Warren Sommer's third book on Langley. The volume is a fascinating look into the underside of West Coast history and will appeal to a growing body of readers who find the province's cemeteries engrossing places to visit.

Already well-known for his tours throughout Greater Vancouver cemeteries, Mr. Sommer will be signing his book and providing a lantern-light tour of Langley's historic Murrayville Cemetery on October 29th as part of a day of activities focusing on cemetery preservation and appreciation.

[Langley Centennial Museum & National Exhibition Centre, 9135 King Street, Fort Langley, BC, V1M 2S2]

A Langley resident since 1979, Warren Sommer, with a master's degree from UBC in historical geography, has written his third book about his hometown, Frail Memorials: The Cemeteries of Langley (Corporation of the Township of Langley, $24.95). 0-9682654-1-3

[BCBW 2006]