Washington City Paper: Contents for Mar. 15

Keeper of the Flame
A day in the life of a cremationist

Cover Story

It’s not

dying that Richard Rapp

is worried about. It’s what happens

afterward.

Richard Rapp stands alongside a waist-high gurney and examines its cargo: a human body zipped snugly into a white plastic bag and lying on a thin slab of plywood. The gurney stands next to a 3-foot-square stainless steel door. The door is set in the wall of an otherwise empty classroom-size room. The room is painted yellow and bathed in fluorescent light.

Rapp unzips the bag several inches and looks at the body. It is a wizened, old white man. Rapp rezips the bag. Then he turns to his nephew, Robert Rapp, who wears a white lab coat and heavy-duty suede gloves that come halfway up his forearms.

“Is the paperwork done?” Rapp asks.

“Yeah,” Robert responds.

“OK, then.”

Rapp steps around the gurney and punches a button on the control panel by the door. The steel hatch rises at the head of the gurney. There is a quiet roar, and a wave of heat washes over the Rapps and their charge. The open door reveals a deep, narrow hearth that glows bright orange through the heat-smeared air.

“Ready?” Rapp asks his nephew.

Robert nods, places his hand on the edge of the plywood at the foot of the body, and shoves. The sheet of wood carries its load off the gurney and into the chamber. Rapp shuts the door with another punch of a button. He glances at the gauges beside the door and walks away. Robert wheels the gurney toward a door leading to the back room, where yet another corpse awaits its final disposition.... Continued

Issue of Mar. 15 - 21, 1996

News and Features

Keeper of the Flame
A day in the life of a cremationist
Cover Story By Randall Bloomquist
Situation Red
Is Marion Barry’s transformation the real deal?
Feature By Jonetta Rose Barras
When a Neighborhood Gets Clubbed
Some Dupont Circle Residents Don’t Think H.H. Leonards Is Private Enough
The City By Julie Wakefield
Alley Alley, Not for Free
The City By Mark Jenkins and Bill Rice
Holly on Folly
The Mail By Annie G. Lane
Sister Ax
The Mail By Nadege Adam
Loser's BET
The Mail By Eric A. Beasley
Bettering BET
The Mail By Sarah Williams
Blaxploitation
The Mail By Dale P. Mason
Radio Bash
The Mail By Debra Robinson
Friend of a Psychic Friend
The Mail By Miles K. Bell
Holly Is a Spunk Rocker
The Mail By Mike Tucker
Schoolhouse Crock
The Mail By D.R. Davis
Baring His Soulsby
The Mail By Larry D. Soulsby