Forever Dixie: A Field Guide to Southern Cemeteries & Their Residents »

Chico, California-based photographer Douglas Keister has photographed twenty-two award-winning, critically acclaimed books. His seventeen books on architecture include four books on Victorian homes (Daughter's of Painted Ladies, Painted Ladies Revisited, America's Painted Ladies and Victorian Glory); three books on bungalow homes (The Bungalow, Inside the Bungalow and Outside the Bungalow), a book on 1920s whimsical homes (Storybook Style) a book about cemetery art and architecture (Going Out in Style), a book on Spanish architecture, (Red Tile Style), six books on bungalow details and Classic Cottages, that will be published by Gibbs Smith Publisher in the Spring of 2004. Keister photographed and wrote an award winning children's book (Fernando's Gift), has two monographs of his personal work (Black Rock and Driftwood Whimsy), a book on classic travel trailers, (Ready to Roll) and a book on cemetery symbolism, Stories in Stone: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Cemetery Symbolism, that will be published by Gibbs Smith Publisher in the Spring of 2004. His wealth of books on architecture has earned him the title, "America's most noted photographer of historic architecture."

When author/photographer Douglas Keister's book Stories in Stone came out in 2004, Sunset magazine stated, "Keister has done for cemetery exploration what Audubon did for birding." Since then, cemetery fans have been clamoring for more. Keister has answered them with Forever Dixie, an exploration of thirteen of the South's best cemeteries and forty notable southerners who have chosen to call the South their permanent home. Forever Dixie gives cemetery explorers GPS directions to the graves of famous southerners such as Martin Luther King Jr., Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Colonel Sanders, Casey Jones, Johnny Mercer, and dozens more. Also featured are interesting and unique graves of ordinary citizens like Thelma Holford of Jonesboro, Arkansas, who commissioned an Italian marble statue of herself and her beloved dog, Bunnie. Forever Dixie is a great gift for all those who call America's southern states home and for those who may have moved but whose hearts, souls, and roots still live in the South.

Photographer/writer Douglas Keister has authored thirty-six critically acclaimed books, including the highly praised book on cemetery exploration, Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography, and Going Out in Style, a book about cemetery art and architecture. His twenty-five books on residential architecture include Inside the Bungalow, Storybook Style, Red Tile Style, Classic Cottages, and Cottages. Keister also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters, and greeting cards worldwide. He lives in Chico, California.

Lafayette Daily Advertiser

"Formatted for easy travel and references, the book provides an in-depth look at cemeteries throughout the South, including Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans and Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard in Tuscumbia, Ala., where man's best friend lies in imaginative graves."

The Cemeteries 10

1 Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana 13

2 Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia 31

3 Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky 39

4 Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee 49

5 Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia 57

6 Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina 67

7 Mount Holly Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas 73

8 Nashville City Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee 79

9 Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia 85

10 Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Alabama 97

11 Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina 103

12 Charleston Churchyards, Charleston, South Carolina 111

13 Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard,Tuscumbia, Alabama 119

Funerary Architecture 127

Symbolism 147

Secret Societies and Clubs 187

Southerners Forever 213

Suggested Reading 244

Index 246