I don't know about you, but I can't resist an essay that begins: "San Francisco is a city without graves. In 1900, the board of supervisors passed an ordinance prohibiting burials within the city limits. In 1912, the board announced its further intention to eliminate the city’s previously existing cemeteries, and in 1914 removal notices were sent to all burial sites, declaring them 'a public nuisance and a menace and detriment to the health and welfare of city dwellers.'"

Joseph Bottum kept me thinking all the way through.