Memoirs of a Deputy Coroner: The Case of Marilyn Monroe presents a compelling new account of the official coroner's investigation into Marilyn Monroe's death. This real-life story is based on a memoir written by the deputy who officially investigated Marilyn's case and signed her death certificate. In 1962, Lionel Grandison was a Deputy for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. A graduate of San Fernando High School in Pacoima, he had married his high school sweetheart who gave birth to his three kids. Arriving to work that fateful Sunday morning, Monroe's death would change his life forever. Discover fascinating new details about what transpired at the L.A. Coroner's Office and how the massive cover-up he witnessed unfolded. Never has Marilyn Monroe's story been told through the eyes ofsomebody who participated in the official investigation. Discover fascinating new details about what transpired at the L.A. Coroner's Office and how the cover-up unfolded. His explosive memoir exposes a far-reaching web of deceit surrounding Marilyn's death. Grandison, then 22-years-old, had the responsibility of gathering all available reports and evidence for the investigation. During his inspection, he witnessed revised medical results, and files hidden from the public. However, his complaints went ignored by his superiors. He was also the last public official to possess and examine Marilyn's secret diary, which arrived at the office with personal property recovered from her house, then later vanished. The book revealed startling facts about Marilyn's secret involvement with powerful men and organizations. It suggested she found herself playing a high-stakes game, which may have gotten her killed. The disappearance of the diary was just another one of many strange mishaps that plagued Grandison's investigation of the Monroe case. But nothing could have prepared him for what was still to come. After signing the death certificate, he would get set up and formally charged with a crime. His story has been the subject of numerous documentaries and TV specials over the years. In 1982, Grandison would lead the charge to reopen the Marilyn Monroe investigation and clear his name. He would testify before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, who would request a Grand Jury investigation. His efforts to see justice for one of Hollywood's biggest legends made him an unsung American hero who stood up, no matter the cost. Author Lionel Grandison Jr. delivers a powerful look at his father's life and memoirs. This special edition volume features 17 previously unreleased photos, notes, and documents from Lionel Grandison's private Marilyn Monroe scrapbook, including his family life in Pacoima. See previously unreleased photos of the 22-year-old coroner's deputy and secretive FBI notes and documents he catalogued over the years.

When Janice Ballenger joined a volunteer rescue company, she began keeping a journal, and clipping news articles about the calls she responded to. Now, as an EMT and deputy coroner, she has seen, smelled and touched things most people have difficulty just hearing about. With the thought of "There's nothing worse that I can see," she continued her job. The Nickel Mines Amish School shootings in October 2006, changed that, when a milk truck driver shot ten Amish girls, and killed himself. Read her story as one of the few people who entered the schoolhouse with the bodies inside. (286pp. Masthof Press, 2008.)

An “entertaining” (Booklist) account of the mysterious, hair-raising, and heartbreaking cases handled by the coroner of Marin County, California throughout his four decades on the job—from high-profile deaths and serial killers to inmate murders and Golden Gate Bridge suicides. Marin County, California is a study in contradictions. Its natural beauty attracts celebrity residents and thousands of visitors every year, yet the county also is home to San Quentin Prison, one of the oldest and largest penitentiaries in the United States. Marin ranks in the top one percent of counties nationwide in terms of affluence and overall health, yet it is far above the norm in drug overdoses and alcoholism, not to mention the large percentage of suicides that occur on the Golden Gate Bridge. Ken Holmes worked in the Marin County Coroner’s Office for thirty-six years, starting as a death investigator and ending as the three-term, elected coroner. As he grew into the job—one that is far different from the forensics we see on television—Holmes learned a variety of skills, from finding hidden clues at death scenes, interviewing witnesses effectively, managing bystanders and reporters, and preparing testimony for court to how to notify families of a death with sensitivity and compassion. He also learned about different kinds of firearms, all types of drugs—prescription and illegal—and about certain unexpected and potentially fatal phenomena, such as autoeroticism. Complete with poignant anecdotes, The Education of a Coroner is “riveting and complex…supremely entertaining reading material and…a fascinating and wildly informative dive into the mysterious world of death and decay” (Kirkus Reviews).

DEATH, FEAR, LOVE, EMOTIONS, SPIRITS Step inside the mind of Donna Francart, a former Deputy Coroner, as she describes to you her years of Medicolegal Death Investigations. What began as her personal diary written to herself, her way of Debriefing, began to form a heartbeat of it's own. She has allowed her inner most thoughts to be shared, with you, Of the fears, tears, and anger she battled with, along the way and the profound lessons she learned, not only from the dead but also from the living.

In the 1950s and '60s Neil Haugerud served as sheriff of Fillmore County in southeastern Minnesota. During this time, he and his wife and their four small children made their home in the building that housed the county jail. In Jailhouse Stories, Haugerud describes what it was like to live above a prison, where jailbirds and jailbreaks were part of family life. These are the reminiscences of a real-life Andy Griffith character, a man dedicated to maintaining order during both peaceful and turbulent days in rural America. Through the author we meet colorful characters on both sides of the law: for example, Doc Nehring, the county coroner, who uses dark humor to get through the grim duties of his job, and Irvin Johnson, who becomes the sheriff's friend despite his constant drinking and incarceration. Stories of domestic squabbles and infidelity are mixed with those of church functions and child rearing. Throughout the stories runs Haugerud's compassionate outlook on human nature. "I came to understand how people make a lot of mistakes, but in my view there are very few bad people, " he writes. The town where Haugerud lives is part Mayberry, part Twin Peaks. We get a glimpse into the lives of the town's citizens, whose problems range from the ordinary to the offbeat to the downright bizarre. In stories that are by turns heartwarming and sad, humorous and humane, Jailhouse Stories tells of the trials, tribulations, and pleasures of rural law enforcement during a bygone era.

A twenty-three-year veteran of emergency medical services, paramedic Matthew Sias took a detour in his career to pursue the death care business and found a complementarity between seemingly divergent careers. Silent Siren: Memoirs of a Life Saving Mortician is the record of some of the more memorable calls he has responded to through the years.

For six decades, Pittsburgh-based forensic scientist Cyril Wecht has been an outspoken authority when horrible things happen to everyday people--murders, childhood deaths, tragic accidents and police brutality. His expertise and testimony have been called upon in high-profile cases, including the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey, Laci Peterson and others. As a criminal defendant, in 1979, he was acquitted on charges of personally profiting from his office as Allegheny County Coroner; a federal public corruption charge was dismissed in 2008. Both cases, his attorneys argued, were politically motivated. Wecht's memoir describes his work on famous cases, his life in the public eye and his legal battles with determined and powerful authorities, from his hometown DA to a U.S. Attorney and the FBI.

Captivating stories of how a young doctor's first year of medical practice in the Smoky Mountains shaped his practice of life and faith. The little mountain hamlet of Bryson City, North Carolina, offers more than dazzling vistas. For Walt Larimore, a young "flatlander" physician setting up his first practice, the town presents its peculiar challenges as well. With the winsomeness of a James Herriott book, Bryson City Tales sweeps you into a world of colorful characters, the texture of Smoky Mountain life, and the warmth, humor, quirks, and struggles of a small country town. It's a world where the family doctor is also the emergency physician, the coroner, and the obstetrician, and where wilderness medicine is part of the job, search-and-rescue calls in the national forest are a way of life, and the next patient just may be somebody's livestock or pet. Bryson City Tales is the tender and insightful chronicle of a young man's rite of passage from medical student to family physician. Laughter and adventure await you in these pages, and lessons learned from Bryson City's unforgettable residents.