Henry
I'm searching for the exact location of Henry Darger's gravesite for a future gravehopping jaunt. Sources indicate that Darger currently rests in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines (the s in Des is pronounced like a z, by the way, since this is Illinois, not Frenchy-Frenchland, Mon-sewer Lafayette Fancypoo). However, you wouldn't know that if you consulted the folks at All Saints Cemetery, who not only have no record of Darger, they've never even heard of the Old People of the Little Sisters of the Poor plot. I called twice and spoke to two people. The first guy looked (meaning I heard the clackity-clack of a keyboard), but came up with zilch, even after I asked him about the possibility of a poor people plot. The second guy also came up with bupkus, but at least made the effort to look up other Dargers. He was happy to inform me that Henry Darger was buried in Hillside Cemetery... this year... so, he's not the Henry I'm looking for (artist Darger died in 1973). I asked about the Little Sisters plot, but was met with an immediate, "Nope, never heard of it." And that was that.
Which makes me suspicious. The first dude had no problem finding Carl A. Grubert, Jr., an unbelievably obscure cartoonist buried at All Saints. But Darger, artist, protector of children, and the author of The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, the biggest, most unreadable book in the world? Nah.
This isn't the first time cemetery folks have dummied up when I've asked for the location of the weirder inhabitants of their boneyards. St. Joseph's Cemetery, on two occasions separated by a month, refused to admit that John "Count Dante" Keehan was buried there, though his death certificate and a previous request by filmmaker Floyd Webb said otherwise. Could be the two guys at All Saints weren't shamming, and literally couldn't find Darger, but I'm naturally suspicious.
Guess I'll have to employ the tedious technique of walking up and down the plots until I find Henry. If I find him, I may very well alert the cemetery to his location. Pervy shut-in or not, man is worth a little more attention than they're granting him.
Which makes me suspicious. The first dude had no problem finding Carl A. Grubert, Jr., an unbelievably obscure cartoonist buried at All Saints. But Darger, artist, protector of children, and the author of The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, the biggest, most unreadable book in the world? Nah.
This isn't the first time cemetery folks have dummied up when I've asked for the location of the weirder inhabitants of their boneyards. St. Joseph's Cemetery, on two occasions separated by a month, refused to admit that John "Count Dante" Keehan was buried there, though his death certificate and a previous request by filmmaker Floyd Webb said otherwise. Could be the two guys at All Saints weren't shamming, and literally couldn't find Darger, but I'm naturally suspicious.
Guess I'll have to employ the tedious technique of walking up and down the plots until I find Henry. If I find him, I may very well alert the cemetery to his location. Pervy shut-in or not, man is worth a little more attention than they're granting him.