Jessica Mitford (1917–1996)
Author of Hons and Rebels
About the Author
Image credit: Photo © Alain McLaughlin
Works by Jessica Mitford
Associated Works
The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate: Two Novels (1945) — Foreword, some editions — 1,612 copies, 30 reviews
Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America (Nation Books) (2003) — Contributor — 45 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Mitford, Jessica
- Legal name
- Mitford, Jessica Lucy
Treuhaft, Jessica Lucy (married) - Other names
- Freeman-Mitford, Jessica
- Birthdate
- 1917-09-11
- Date of death
- 1996-07-22
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- journalist
writer
political activist
professor - Organizations
- Decca and the Dectones
- Relationships
- Mitford, Nancy (sister)
Mosley, Diana (sister)
Mitford, Algernon B. (grandfather)
Devonshire, Deborah (sister)
Romilly, Esmond (first husband)
Mosley, Oswald (brother-in-law) (show all 14)
Guinness, Desmond (nephew)
Guinness, Jonathan (nephew)
Churchill, Randolph S. (second cousin)
Murphy, Sophia (niece)
Mitford, Unity (sister)
Mitford, Pamela (sister)
York, Catherine (cousin)
Truehaft, Robert (husband) - Short biography
- Jessica Mitford, known in the family as Decca, was one of the six daughters born to English aristocrats David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife Sydney. She received little formal education but was widely read. At age 19, she eloped with her second cousin Esmond Romilly and went first to Spain, where Romilly worked as a war correspondent after having fought in the Spanish Civil War. The couple then lived in the East End of London before leaving England for the USA. At the start of World War II, Romilly enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force; he was killed a few months after Jessica gave birth to their daughter. She remarried in 1943 to Robert Treuhaft, a civil rights lawyer, and moved with him to Oakland, California, and had two sons. Jessica was active in many civil rights causes and left-wing politics. She became an investigative writer and journalist, and published her bestselling exposé of the funeral industry, The American Way of Death, in 1963. She also wrote several memoirs, including Hons and Rebels (1960, also known as Daughters and Rebels). Jessica's deeply held beliefs caused her estrangement from her sister Diana, Lady Mosley.
- Cause of death
- lung cancer
- Nationality
- UK (birth)
USA (naturalized | 1944) - Birthplace
- Gloucestershire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Burford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
London, England, UK
Washington, D.C., USA
Oakland, California, USA
Gloucestershire, England (birth) - Place of death
- Oakland, California, USA
Members
Reviews
I am usually not one to fall at the altar of author-personality cults but here we are. I absolutely relished every letter in this mammoth collection of Mitford's correspondences, the combination of her sense of humour and social justice is perfection. I love her writing, her general flippancy and attitudes towards her family and friends, and her weird, pure, innocent love for Esmond (how did all those nicknames come about!?). If there is any biography on her, don't bother, this collection is show more all you need for the most complete portrait of Decca with all her humour, humanity and complexity. It's definitely on my list of desert-island books, neverendingly entertaining and informative.
Aside: a note of praise to the editor Sussman, whose mini chapter biographies of Mitford and historical background notes really help contextualise her letters. show less
Aside: a note of praise to the editor Sussman, whose mini chapter biographies of Mitford and historical background notes really help contextualise her letters. show less
Once upon a time, straight out of college, I almost took a job in funeral sales. I'm glad I steered clear of that lucrative career path. The money would've been great, but not at the expense of all that absurd psychological manipulation and sales shenanigans I'd of had to have conned the bereaved with, every day, 9-5.
"Wouldn't your loved one have wanted to be buried in this gold embossed coffin? I understand he was a man of modest means, and made great personal sacrifices for you and your show more family, doesn't he now deserve the best now for his eternal rest?"
What shysters, just a small step removed from their sleazy, used car salespeople, next of kin. I wouldn't be caught dead working in the funeral industry, preying upon people's raw emotional weakness in their greatest -- and gravest -- time of need. What a disgusting, self-serving industry the funeral business became in the twentieth century in the U.S.A., and remains so, even now, despite occasional promises of reform that have arisen in reaction to persistent whistle blowers like Jessica Mitford, whose American Way of Death elicited a similar (though smaller scaled) legislative response that The Jungle did for the meat packing industry.
Jessica Mitford wrote a wonderful, smart, and snarky exposé on the closed culture and shady sales tactics of these embalming-crazed bastards -- or "memorial counselors" -- as their business cards allege they are today, who don't bat an eye inside their posh offices insisting that embalming is "required by law" when in fact no such laws requiring the dead have to be embalmed exist on the books or have ever existed. This lie has been so ingrained in U.S. culture, as Mitford observes, that these memorial counselors don't even ask the bereaved if they want "the deceased" to be embalmed; they just assume you do unless you say you don't. And if you don't want embalming, but rather, refrigeration, the average memorial counselor will proclaim, because of health reasons, that "the law requires it." But the law doesn't -- and never has -- required it. It's a lie.
But as Mitford pointed out, if you're not an attorney or legal expert, and in your vulnerable condition (you may still be in shock), having just lost a loved one, you're probably not going to argue with them that it isn't the law, but will take their good word for it; because, after all, they're the experts right?, they're the authorities on the matter, and you automatically accept their authority unconsciously. They're dressed in their Sunday best and their speech even sounds, the way they talk, if they're smooth at it, sympathetic. Like they care about you. Certainly they wouldn't dream of taking advantage of you at a horrible time like this!
But they do. They have. And will continue to do so. They've been screwing all of us over, in fact, for almost one hundred years: first our great-grandparents, then our grandparents, then our parents, and now us, doing so when we're at our lowest, screwing us over with flowery lies. How many poor people that the funeral industry has purported to serve have only been made poorer by exorbitant, debt-inducing price tags for services that are often unnecessary to begin with, such as embalming or air-tight coffins? Bless Jessica Mitford for exposing the industry's collective ruthlessness and unprofessional practices throughout the last thirty-plus years of her life. show less
"Wouldn't your loved one have wanted to be buried in this gold embossed coffin? I understand he was a man of modest means, and made great personal sacrifices for you and your show more family, doesn't he now deserve the best now for his eternal rest?"
What shysters, just a small step removed from their sleazy, used car salespeople, next of kin. I wouldn't be caught dead working in the funeral industry, preying upon people's raw emotional weakness in their greatest -- and gravest -- time of need. What a disgusting, self-serving industry the funeral business became in the twentieth century in the U.S.A., and remains so, even now, despite occasional promises of reform that have arisen in reaction to persistent whistle blowers like Jessica Mitford, whose American Way of Death elicited a similar (though smaller scaled) legislative response that The Jungle did for the meat packing industry.
Jessica Mitford wrote a wonderful, smart, and snarky exposé on the closed culture and shady sales tactics of these embalming-crazed bastards -- or "memorial counselors" -- as their business cards allege they are today, who don't bat an eye inside their posh offices insisting that embalming is "required by law" when in fact no such laws requiring the dead have to be embalmed exist on the books or have ever existed. This lie has been so ingrained in U.S. culture, as Mitford observes, that these memorial counselors don't even ask the bereaved if they want "the deceased" to be embalmed; they just assume you do unless you say you don't. And if you don't want embalming, but rather, refrigeration, the average memorial counselor will proclaim, because of health reasons, that "the law requires it." But the law doesn't -- and never has -- required it. It's a lie.
But as Mitford pointed out, if you're not an attorney or legal expert, and in your vulnerable condition (you may still be in shock), having just lost a loved one, you're probably not going to argue with them that it isn't the law, but will take their good word for it; because, after all, they're the experts right?, they're the authorities on the matter, and you automatically accept their authority unconsciously. They're dressed in their Sunday best and their speech even sounds, the way they talk, if they're smooth at it, sympathetic. Like they care about you. Certainly they wouldn't dream of taking advantage of you at a horrible time like this!
But they do. They have. And will continue to do so. They've been screwing all of us over, in fact, for almost one hundred years: first our great-grandparents, then our grandparents, then our parents, and now us, doing so when we're at our lowest, screwing us over with flowery lies. How many poor people that the funeral industry has purported to serve have only been made poorer by exorbitant, debt-inducing price tags for services that are often unnecessary to begin with, such as embalming or air-tight coffins? Bless Jessica Mitford for exposing the industry's collective ruthlessness and unprofessional practices throughout the last thirty-plus years of her life. show less
Surely the dead must be rolling in their proverbial graves!
In "The American Way of Death Revisited," journalist and muckracker Jessica Mitford presents a searing exposé of the "death-care" industries, particularly funeral homes/directors and cemeteries. She potently argues that many death-care workers, rather than looking out for their customers' best interests, are more concerned about their bottom lines; that the FTC has failed to curb manipulative and downright illegal sales techniques show more engaged in by these businesses; that many of our assumptions about funerary practices are wrong; and that consumers should actively take part in honoring their dearly departed, rather than turning the task (and thousands of dollars) over to McMortuaries.
With the help of undercover investigations, disgruntled death-care workers, and grieving families who fell prey to unscrupulous death-care workers, Ms. Mitford details the manipulative, deceitful, and sometimes illegal tactics that death-care workers use to trump their competitors in an increasingly oversaturated market. We're even treated to shocking statements right from the horses' mouths: the authors offers a multitude of quotes pulled straight from the trade journals, such as "The Director," "Mortuary Management," "Casket & Sunnyside," and (my personal favorite) "American Professional Embalmer."
In "The American Way of Death Revisited," we learn the following:
* Although funeral directors would like you to believe otherwise, embalming is neither required by state law nor essential to public health.
* Again contrary to the fibs of the "funeral men" (as Ms. Mitford ominously refers to them), citizens are free to scatter "cremains" wherever they so choose (the state of California is the lone exception) - it is not necessary to bury them, store them in a pricey urn, or pay someone to scatter them. Nor is it required that your loved one be cremated in a casket - a cardboard or pine box or shroud does just as well.
* The purchase of "pre-need" plans usually serve as in invitation for the old "bait-and-switch" trick; by the time you pass away, the casket you initially paid for is no longer available. Thus, your grieving relatives are forced to choose between a free yet inferior substitute - or an "upgrade" for a fee.
* Open casket funerals are a rather new invention, and are unique to the United States. Although funeral directors assert that a public viewing (of an embalmed corpse, of course) is necessary for healing in the survivors, they cannot produce one documented, scientific study to support this claim. Nor are they licensed psychologists; strangely, this does not prevent them from charging customers for "grief counseling."
* As in many other industries, the ownership of funeral homes and cemeteries is becoming concentrated in the hands of a few massive McMonopolies. In some areas of the country, as many as 70% of the funeral homes may be owned by one company (talk about price fixing!). Even more infuriating are the companies' attempts to conceal ownership from consumers; they would much rather have you believe that you're purchasing a plan from kindly old "Uncle" Jack, who handled your grandmother's funeral arrangements so many years ago.
Of course, these are but a few of the insidious practices engaged in by the "funeral men." The author manages to fill a full 274 pages with the others.
Ms. Mitford also explains where the Federal Trade Commission was (and has been) while millions of Americans were (are) being ripped off during their time of utmost vulnerability. The answer certainly won't give you much faith in the current state of our government (unless you share Mark Twain's sentiments: "I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have legislatures that bring higher prices than any in the world.").
"The American Way of Death Revisited" is actually a revised and updated version of 1963's "The American Way of Death." While Ms. Mitford does offer some new information and insight, including more on the FTC and the development of McMortuaries, much of the information is dated. For example, many of the price quotes are still in 1960s currency. For this reason alone, I'd give the book 4.5 stars rather than 5.
Nonetheless, "The American Way of Death Revisited" is an impressive and shocking piece of work. It's interesting to note how the "American Way of Death" is a relative recent phenomenon, and not a longstanding tradition, as those in the industry would have you believe. England is proud to boast that they're 50 years behind us in their funerary practices; let's hope that, through collective action, we can regress even further back than 50 years, to the days of simple pine coffins and home viewings.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2005/05/10/the-american-way-of-death-revisited-by-jess... show less
In "The American Way of Death Revisited," journalist and muckracker Jessica Mitford presents a searing exposé of the "death-care" industries, particularly funeral homes/directors and cemeteries. She potently argues that many death-care workers, rather than looking out for their customers' best interests, are more concerned about their bottom lines; that the FTC has failed to curb manipulative and downright illegal sales techniques show more engaged in by these businesses; that many of our assumptions about funerary practices are wrong; and that consumers should actively take part in honoring their dearly departed, rather than turning the task (and thousands of dollars) over to McMortuaries.
With the help of undercover investigations, disgruntled death-care workers, and grieving families who fell prey to unscrupulous death-care workers, Ms. Mitford details the manipulative, deceitful, and sometimes illegal tactics that death-care workers use to trump their competitors in an increasingly oversaturated market. We're even treated to shocking statements right from the horses' mouths: the authors offers a multitude of quotes pulled straight from the trade journals, such as "The Director," "Mortuary Management," "Casket & Sunnyside," and (my personal favorite) "American Professional Embalmer."
In "The American Way of Death Revisited," we learn the following:
* Although funeral directors would like you to believe otherwise, embalming is neither required by state law nor essential to public health.
* Again contrary to the fibs of the "funeral men" (as Ms. Mitford ominously refers to them), citizens are free to scatter "cremains" wherever they so choose (the state of California is the lone exception) - it is not necessary to bury them, store them in a pricey urn, or pay someone to scatter them. Nor is it required that your loved one be cremated in a casket - a cardboard or pine box or shroud does just as well.
* The purchase of "pre-need" plans usually serve as in invitation for the old "bait-and-switch" trick; by the time you pass away, the casket you initially paid for is no longer available. Thus, your grieving relatives are forced to choose between a free yet inferior substitute - or an "upgrade" for a fee.
* Open casket funerals are a rather new invention, and are unique to the United States. Although funeral directors assert that a public viewing (of an embalmed corpse, of course) is necessary for healing in the survivors, they cannot produce one documented, scientific study to support this claim. Nor are they licensed psychologists; strangely, this does not prevent them from charging customers for "grief counseling."
* As in many other industries, the ownership of funeral homes and cemeteries is becoming concentrated in the hands of a few massive McMonopolies. In some areas of the country, as many as 70% of the funeral homes may be owned by one company (talk about price fixing!). Even more infuriating are the companies' attempts to conceal ownership from consumers; they would much rather have you believe that you're purchasing a plan from kindly old "Uncle" Jack, who handled your grandmother's funeral arrangements so many years ago.
Of course, these are but a few of the insidious practices engaged in by the "funeral men." The author manages to fill a full 274 pages with the others.
Ms. Mitford also explains where the Federal Trade Commission was (and has been) while millions of Americans were (are) being ripped off during their time of utmost vulnerability. The answer certainly won't give you much faith in the current state of our government (unless you share Mark Twain's sentiments: "I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have legislatures that bring higher prices than any in the world.").
"The American Way of Death Revisited" is actually a revised and updated version of 1963's "The American Way of Death." While Ms. Mitford does offer some new information and insight, including more on the FTC and the development of McMortuaries, much of the information is dated. For example, many of the price quotes are still in 1960s currency. For this reason alone, I'd give the book 4.5 stars rather than 5.
Nonetheless, "The American Way of Death Revisited" is an impressive and shocking piece of work. It's interesting to note how the "American Way of Death" is a relative recent phenomenon, and not a longstanding tradition, as those in the industry would have you believe. England is proud to boast that they're 50 years behind us in their funerary practices; let's hope that, through collective action, we can regress even further back than 50 years, to the days of simple pine coffins and home viewings.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2005/05/10/the-american-way-of-death-revisited-by-jess... show less
Not only have I found my favorite book of the year, this one made it into my top 20 books of all time! Hons and Rebels (alternatively titled Daughters and Rebels) is a nonfiction book that follows Jessica Mitford, one of the Mitford siblings. The book starts out during Jessica's childhood and teen years, growing up in an eccentric British upper class family. Eventually, with her values gradually morphing to conflict with many of her relatives, she decides to escape her upper class life, show more leaving her family and England behind.
Before I started reading, I had done a Wikipedia deep dive on the Mitford siblings, so I figured this book would be interesting, but not too thrilling, because I felt like I already knew all of the events that would happen. Boy, was I wrong. Hons and Rebels was RIVETING! I was spellbound for every single word of this book. I laughed uproariously at Jessica's exploits, I became attached to the people Jessica and Esmond met during their travels, and by the end of the book, I was in tears. She was such a fantastic writer. I can't wait to read more of her books! show less
Before I started reading, I had done a Wikipedia deep dive on the Mitford siblings, so I figured this book would be interesting, but not too thrilling, because I felt like I already knew all of the events that would happen. Boy, was I wrong. Hons and Rebels was RIVETING! I was spellbound for every single word of this book. I laughed uproariously at Jessica's exploits, I became attached to the people Jessica and Esmond met during their travels, and by the end of the book, I was in tears. She was such a fantastic writer. I can't wait to read more of her books! show less
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- Works
- 15
- Also by
- 8
- Members
- 4,134
- Popularity
- #6,091
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 82
- ISBNs
- 77
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- 4
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- 10