Stone Poets: Headstone Epitaphs: Ruminations, Recollections & Farewells

Don Van Nostrand was born and raised in Southampton, NY. His interest in tombstone epitaphs began as a youth while strolling the many Pre- and Post-Revolutionary War graveyards that dot the landscape of the South Fork of Long Island.

These cemeteries were the last resting places of the original settlers and their descendants from Lynn, Massachusetts who, in 1640, broke free of their colony in New England.

It was a reverse migration that found Mr. Van Nostrand relocating to Portsmouth, NH in the early 1990's, where he found himself in the center of the seemingly unending landscape of old cemeteries that are ubiquitous to the New England area. The transcription and capture of the poetic epitaphs that grace these granite and slate headstones became his passion. Preserving this dying art form and sharing them with the world before they succumbed to time and the elements became his calling.

After an interruption of 13 years while working in the US Virgin Islands, Vancouver, Canada and Key West, FL, it was a chance assignment to Williston, VT in 2014 where he was able to expand his scope and to put the finishing touches on the book you now hold.

Mr. Van Nostrand graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice. His varied careers have had him working in the windsurfing and snowboard industries, as a musician and a bartender. He currently works for the Department of Homeland Security in Washington State.