The Richard Leck Situation : Write your will now.

My friend Karen has been collaborating with a 75-year-old writer for the last 2-3 years. They met while she was living in NYC. She was collecting his stories, transcribing and rewriting them, and getting them published. She also published a chapbook of his poems on her small press, Words Like Kudzu.

He died in late December. He died without a will. His girlfriend is not getting the ear of the authorities in the situation. They will not give her his body to bury.

After many arguments with strangely non-committal social workers, K. and another NYC friend of Richard’s (for his name is Richard, actually) have been able to finagle the right to bury the man in his family plot in New Jersey.

Since he died without a will, and without legal instructions per how to dispose of his remains, K. is unable to cremate him and toss his ashes over the seas at a particular beach, something he expressed to her in their taped interviews, which is not legal enough for her to get the right to cremate him.

The burial will cost $2600. It is costing $600 more than it would during the summer because the “ground opening fee” is higher during the winter. The frozen earth damages the equipment.

This burial is the no-frills, “put the body in the ground” burial, as well.