I’m Holly Pruett. I bring people together to help prepare for, live with, and talk about death.
Life-Cycle Celebrant, Home Funeral Guide, Conversation Leader & Consultant
I work with families and communities to create unique, personalized ceremonies that support bereavement and remembrance, including supporting families to care for their dead at home.
Starting in early 2013 I served as principal organizer of PDX Death Café, acknowledged as the largest death café across 50+ countries. Now an advisor to the next generation of PDX Death Café leaders, I’ve led Death Cafés at restaurants, libraries, hospice programs, community centers, college reunions, and a music festival.
I led the successful 500-person, 10-hour day of programming Death:OK, Let’s Talk About It, held in Portland, Oregon in 2015.
I served for three years as a facilitator with Oregon Humanities’ Talking About Dying conversation program.
For 30 years I served the community through local, state, and national non-profit organizations as a community organizer, executive director, and consultant.
My principal teachers in this work have been the deaths I have attended; I’ve written extensively about my father and my dear friend Marcy Westerling, among others. My work with Lynda Martin-McCormick on her husband’s home funeral was featured in a short video: Death DIY.
Master’s degree from the Leadership Institute of Seattle; BA in history from Reed College
Holly is available to:
Design and officiate customized rituals and ceremonies for individuals, families, organizations, and communities
Serve as a sounding board to individuals and families as they explore, determine, and plan for what will happen during their dying time and after their death
Provide public speaking, media interviews, training, and community consultation on a range of topics related to how we die, how we mourn, and how we remember our dead
Advise organizations and communities on designing and producing community conversations and other events
Support new practitioners through personal consultation
The Death Talk Project
From 2016–2019 the Death Talk Project organized workshops, rituals, Death Cafés, a monthly movie night, and other events. This legacy site documents our approach to useful, honest conversation about how we die, how we mourn, and how we care for and remember our dead.
Founder Holly Pruett
I’m Holly Pruett. I bring people together to help prepare for, live with, and talk about death.
Life-Cycle Celebrant, Home Funeral Guide, Conversation Leader & Consultant
Education & Professional Training
Holly is available to:
The Death Talk Project
From 2016–2019 the Death Talk Project organized workshops, rituals, Death Cafés, a monthly movie night, and other events. This legacy site documents our approach to useful, honest conversation about how we die, how we mourn, and how we care for and remember our dead.
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