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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture from U.S. National Public Radio. c http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112281183 People will spend a lot of money to live near the rich and famous. For the dead and famous, arguably no neighborhood is more desirable than the mausoleum at the Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery in Los Angeles. Among the many stars resting there is the iconic Marilyn Monroe. The crypt directly above her was recently auctioned on eBay. A Japanese man bid more than $4.6 million to spend eternity as Monroe's upstairs neighbor. The Los Angeles Times reports he then reneged on the deal in an e-mail, saying "I need to cancel this because of the paying problem." The current occupant of the crypt is Richard Poncher, who died 23 years ago at the age of 81. In accordance with his wishes, he was entombed face down, above the movie star. His widow, Elsie Poncher, wants to sell his crypt to pay off the mortgage on her house. She'll then move him into an adjacent crypt she owns. Her attorney told NPR that the next step depends on what they hear from eBay about the qualifications of bidders. There were a dozen of them for the space above Monroe. The tomb right next to hers is owned by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. It seems to be the same for Monroe in death as in life, when she complained to Groucho Marx in Love Happy: I want you to help me," Monroe says. "I have a little sand left, what seems to be the trouble?" Groucho asks. "Some men are following me," Monroe replies. Groucho comes back with,"Really? I can't understand why." Just an exclusive few will be able to follow Monroe into eternity — and at least one — will pay a bundle for the chance. ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html