Death Café

Death Cafe will begin again in September 2014.

The Death Cafe movement was started by Jon Underwood in London in September 2011. It was based on the work of Bernard Crettaz. The first American Cafe was in Ohio in February 2012 and was facilitated by Lizzy Miles. Now there are hundreds around the world. There are plans to open a real 'Death Cafe' this year in London. The web site is deathcafe.com. We are listed as Death Cafe Ukiah.

The Death Cafe is a space created by the facilitator(s) for the purpose of talking about death and dying. Anyone may come and be part of the discussion. We do ask participants to respect confidentiality, just listen, speak from your own experience and respect others'  points of view. We serve snacks and tea.

We think talking about death is a great way to spend some time. It is a concept that is simple yet profound and provocative. It is something that unites all living beings. It is not easy to find a setting in which to talk about death freely. Our whole culture can benefit from changing the way we approach the end of life.

We have had a wonderful response and very good feedback from the participants. Many have said that they appreciated the diversity of thought, the openness and safety and the opportunity to share experience. We discuss the question about talking to friends and family and almost everyone has said yes, they will.

"I don't often have an opportunity to talk about death, my kids don't want to talk about it nor do most of my friends . . . ."

"The common experience is valuable to acknowledge, our eventual inevitable passing everyone shares."

". . . gave me time to explore my ambivalence."

". . . appreciate the permission to talk about death"