Jarred Harrington
Official Site Author & Speaker
Whatever our background, bias, or beliefs, there is one truth to which each is bound and from which none can escape: sooner or later, we will die.
Available soon in Spanish and Mandarin.
Talking about death is never easy. Digital Remains: Death, Dying & Remembrance in the Tech Generation makes expert insights accessible and unintimidating. In this book, you’ll gain up-to-date knowledge about your options, including how to:
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Use social media to notify your networks.
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Convert a Facebook page to an online memorial.
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Assign the rights to your digital property.
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Delete your digital existence.
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Make a plan for your physical remains.
After your physical remains are laid to rest, your digital remains become the story you tell to generations that follow. Through this thoughtfully designed guidebook, author J.H. Harrington empowers you to take control of the digital imprints of your life and become the author of your own story. What will your digital debris reveal about the person you were, the life you led, and the impact you made?
Start planning today.
Keep an eye out for the release date for J.H. Harrington's new fiction book in the New Year.
COMING SOON
‘The L’Enfant Inquiry’ My Next Book and First Fiction Novel
(the first in The Agents of Ezra Series) has been GREENLITE by my publisher!
A pending release date of April 2021 has been set & pre-orders will be available within the NEXT Month!!!
A secret agency set in DC fights against the clock and a power-hungry organization to stop a DOOMSDAY fail-safe designed by the founding fathers before it destroys the country it was meant to protect.
Join John Ezra and The Agents of Ezra on this thrilling adventure through REAL historical events!
Select Your Perk On INDIEGOGO now!
J. H. Harrington has spent his entire life with death. A fifth-generation funeral director and embalmer, J. grew up in a funeral home, where the divide between life and death was scarcely more than a veil.
At the Harringtons, grown-ups spoke openly about grave matters from which other parents might have shielded young ears.
And kids entertained themselves on wheeled
casket carts fashioned into race cars. For J., this unorthodox upbringing fostered a bedside manner that’s as comfortable as it is comforting, and a sense of humor that straddles the line between deadpan and macabre.
With an advanced degree in thanatology — the study of death, dying, and bereavement —
J. H. Harrington is both an industry expert and the life of the party.
Bio
Testimonials
We all want to leave a legacy. And now we will...long into the future.
Bill Novelli,
Former CEO of AARP, Professor and Expert in Advanced Illness/End of Life Care
I have not seen many resources focusing on these important topics and I think this book will be helpful to many individuals and families.
Christine Pepper,
CEO of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA)
With the whole world moving online in the wake of COVID-19, finding new ways to remember and honor our loved ones is urgently needed.
Nora Super,
Senior Director of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging (CFA) and Former Executive Director of the White House Conference on Aging
From Our Readers
Robin: If I could give it 10 stars I would!
This book provides top-notch advice and makes it accessible for everyone to understand and apply to their life. A great read on an increasingly important topic!
Travis: Perfect for book club conversation
I don’t typically leave book reviews, however I thought Digital Remains was a great read, and a great book club option! Covered so many topics that we had never thought about or at least connected the dots on.
New Reader: Interesting Perspective
Death is a topic many of us shy away from discussing. I never sat down and thought about the place of death in our world of digitally connected lives before this book. It is a different experience for our generation, and we need to discuss it for the sake of our mental health. Death is personal, and this book offers the first step into reflecting on this personal journey.
Andrew: Essential Update on a Topic We All Avoid
J.H Harrington's "Digital Remains" does a great job forcing you to think about a topic that we all avoid until it's too late. The book has inspired some well-overdue conversations amongst my family members about their wishes.
Although a tough subject to broach, I already feel better knowing whether they want to be buried or cremated, what they want for their funeral, and where they want their remains to be buried or spread. The section on how to handle all your online, email, and social media accounts was also a timely and interesting update to the topic.
In summary, I highly recommend this book as 1) a practical template for having the tough conversation about death with your spouse, parents, siblings; and 2) a step-by-step guide for shoring up all your email/social media/online accounts after you're gone.
Alli: Eye Opening AND Practical
Our digital selves leave behind a lot of things... social media accounts, data on the cloud, crypto-currency, the list goes on. J.H. has a compelling way of making us aware of how to navigate the digital realm and how it intersects with what our generation will leave behind when we're gone. Hint: It's more complicated and compelling than you think. This book is the go-to in terms of guiding you and empowering you to take action while you can.
Contact
Email: jhowardharrington@gmail.com
Available For Selected Book Signings; Virtual Book Club Discussions; Keynotes; Panels; Webinars; Author Interviews (TV, blogs, radio, podcasts etc.,)
Book Club/
Discussion
Digital Remains
Introduction:
• What hesitations do you have when planning ahead or talking about funerals or the idea of mortality in general?
Ch. 1 Digging Deeper than Six Feet Under:
• Are death and mortality subjects that as Yount put it, “you kind of have to go there first,” topics to begin to thing about things in a more personal way?
Ch. 2 Death & Social Media
•Have you had a personal experience with death or death notification on social media or online? Where these experiences like Chris’s and Ari’s? What can be learned from this experience?
Chapter Quotes to Discuss:
“Barely five minutes after he’d begun mindlessly moving through his Facebook feed, Chris stopped his scroll on a post from his cousin. No vacation photos. Just these five words.”
“We can find joy, sorrow, excitement, anger, and sadness all in the posts we come across as we scroll through our feeds. Being mindful of this might be the key to successfully relaying sensitive information like the information shared in an obituary.”
Ch. 3 Finding the Words
• What are the challenges you experience when thinking of what to say when giving words of condolence at a visitation, wake, memorial service, funeral or on the street? What feelings come to mind? What words of condolence were helpful to you , if any, after experiencing a personal loss?
Exercise:
Pair up with a partner or small group and role play what you might say to them is they lost someone close to them. Select one person that has suffered a loss while the others offer condolences. Set the scene. Where are you? (At a visitation, in the grocery store, passing on the way to dinner?) What was helpful? What was odd? Does the way you approach someone make a difference? Now trade roles. What was different? What made each of you comfortable or less comfortable?
Ch. 4 Digital Remains:
• Do you think your Digital Remains, your presence online, depicts your full life story? Is this a good thing or not?
•What are your thoughts on Final Death?
•What benefits can you think of that come with having an easy to access place of remembrance online for those you leave behind? Are there downsides?
Urning the Answer: Will the world run out of space to bury the dead?:
• Does knowing how much space is needed change how you think of burial or cremation?
Ch. 5 The Printed Obituary
• Does your Daily or Weekly routine include a scan of the obituary section? If not in the newspaper how and where do you find this information? Does looking at obituaries more frequently make it easier for you to think about your own mortality?
Ch. 6 Learning from the End:
•What is your “avoid egg salad sandwiches from hot truck stop vending machines,” advice?
Ch. 7 Modern Notifications
• Is checking notifications on your smartphone part of your morning routine?
Chapter Quote To Discuss:
“Among the feed of puppy pictures, memes, and pictures from high points of the weekend, I had learned that two of my friends were gone forever.”
Ch. 8 The Reach of Social Media:
• If you died today would everyone you want to be notified of your death receive this information? How would your children or spouse/partner know to contact all these people or would they be able to?
• How would someone you went to high school/college/worked with at a past job with find out?
• Could someone access your phone after you are gone? Have you planned ahead for this instance?
Urning the Answer: Ashes, what are they really?:
• Had you thought of the secondary questions that surround associating your ashes with a plant or garden?
• What are steps you could take to make this a viable choice for you that is also beneficial to those you leave behind?
Ch. 9 From Visible to Usable:
• Which of these options speak to you? What other options have you heard of that might be of interest to the group?
Ch. 10 How Will You Spend Eternity?:
• What do you think about the new options for disposition that exist or are becoming more widely available? Are they more or less accepted the more you talk about them?
Ch. 11 Virtual Funerals:
• Have you attended a funeral virtually? Would it be helpful if all funerals were broadcast virtually in unison with a physically present service? Why or Why not?
Ch. 12 How Did We Get Here?:
• Like the modern interpretation of a viking funeral in the chapter, have you heard of creative services in your community? Or, do you have a creative idea for a funeral that you have always toyed with but never mentioned?
Urning the Answer: The Pine Box Paradox:
• Had you considered the thoughts behind a Plain Pine Box?
• How has this chapter effected how you approach the selection of a casket or urn?
Ch. 13 Deathitecture
• Is a change in the way we interact with cemeteries in our daily lives a needed change in the world?
Why or why not?
• Are there benefits to the new technologies and changes in the way we are buried that might be helpful to future generations in your opinion?
Ch. 14 The Legacy of a Likeness:
• What concerns do you have about your likeness after your death now that you have read the chapter?
• Is it something that is left to the discretion of your heirs or something you want input on?
• Do you want to be a Hologram after you are gone?