Tombstone Tuesday: Ayn Rand, Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, NY

Cousin April and I went on a genealogy field trip to the New York State Archives in Albany on Friday to try to chip away at the mystery of Jacob Raynor's parents. It was an interesting day, which I will write about in a later post. On the way back, she wanted to stop at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, where some newly discovered relatives were buried. Like many of us with poor relations, they did not have a headstone, but the many people who do have these huge, unique, sometimes beautiful, sometimes ostentatious headstones and mausoleums. The place is just absolutely gorgeous. Anyway, quite a few famous people also happen to be buried there. April and I visited two of them, and I submit this photo I took of Ayn Rand's grave for this week's Tombstone Tuesday post:

Ayn Rand headstone in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, NY. Taken by Mary Ellen Gorry, 6 April 2012.

I'll be honest - I've never actually read any Ayn Rand novels but I am an avid reader and I know she's one of the great figures of modern literature. We also stopped to look at the grave of Lou Gehrig; I posted that photo in my sports blog here. In both cases I loved seeing how simple the headstones were of these two very famous people. I also liked seeing Ayn Rand buried with her husband, and Lou Gehrig surrounded by his family - I think sometimes we forget that even famous historical figures had families and were mothers, wives, and daughters.