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'Death Faire': Music, Food, And Making Death Less Taboo

A conversation with Death Faire organizer Tami Schwerin, Piedmont Pine Coffins owner Donald Byrne, and an expert on El Dia de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) Pepe Caudillo.

Death and spirits are part of conversations this week more than most other times of the year. On Monday, many donned costumes of ghosts and goblins to celebrate Halloween, and yesterday others around the world gathered for festivals and celebrations to mark the first day of El Dia de Los Muertos, a Mexican holiday that honors the dead. But talking about death and dying is usually more taboo. While everyone experiences grief, illness, and death, these experiences are often kept private, discussed only with close friends and families.

This weekend, people from across the state will gather to break the silence around death through public celebration and conversation. The Death Faire is a day-long event in Pittsboro with workshops, activities, music, and food. Host Frank Stasio talks about the faire with organizer Tami Schwerin; contributor Donald Byrne, the owner and operator of Piedmont Pine Coffins; and Pepe Caudillo, an expert on El Dia de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead).

Zafer Estill, a 20-year-old who died of a heroin overdose in April 2016. His death inspired his parents to start a public conversation about death and dying.
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Zafer Estill, a 20-year-old who died of a heroin overdose in April 2016. His death inspired his parents to start a public conversation about death and dying.
Pine box coffins are one part of a green burial, a growing trend to allow bodies to recyle more naturally.
Courtesy of Donald Byrne /
Pine box coffins are one part of a green burial, a growing trend to allow bodies to recyle more naturally.
Donald Bryne is the co-owner of Piedmont Pine Coffins, a green burial business in Chatham County, NC.
Courtesy of Donald Byrne /
Donald Bryne is the co-owner of Piedmont Pine Coffins, a green burial business in Chatham County, NC.

Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.