Dying Together

Village-inspired approaches to befriending death, awakening aliveness, and belonging to each other at the end of life

Through real-life stories, soulful practices, and a community-building toolkit, Dying Together shows how preparing ourselves—and each other—for death transforms fear into intimacy, restores coherence to our communities, and reconnects us with life's generative cycles.​

What if death was not something to fear—but one of life's greatest teachers?

In modern culture, death is often hidden from view, outsourced to professionals, and experienced in isolation. Yet for most of human history, dying, grieving, and caring for one another at the end of life were woven into the fabric of community life.

In Dying Together, death educator and community practitioner Lee Warren explores how reconnecting with death can help us reclaim something many of us are longing for: deeper belonging, stronger relationships, and more meaningful ways of caring for one another.

Drawing on more than three decades of experience in intentional communities—including her years at Earthaven Ecovillage in the Southern Appalachians—Warren shares a compassionate and practical vision for bringing death back into the center of community life.

At the heart of the book is a remarkable period known within Earthaven as "The Death Years," when six community members died over the course of two years. What emerged was a living curriculum in communal death care—one that revealed how mortality can become a powerful teacher, helping people cultivate connection, resilience, and collective wisdom.

Combining personal stories, practical guidance, ritual, reflection, and community-based approaches to caregiving, Dying Together offers a path toward a more conscious and life-affirming relationship with death.

What You'll Gain

• Practical tools for community-based death care and end-of-life support
• Guidance for creating meaningful rituals around dying, grief, and remembrance
• Greater confidence navigating grief, loss, and mortality
• A deeper understanding of death literacy and death-positive culture Insight into home funerals, green burials, and community-centered mourning practices
• New ways to foster connection, belonging, and mutual care during times of loss
• A grounded framework for creating more death-aware and compassionate communities

Death and Grief Were Never Meant to Be Faced Alone

Rather than treating death as a private event or medical problem to be managed, Dying Together explores village-inspired approaches that bring caregiving, grieving, and remembrance back into community life.

Through stories, contemplative practices, and real-world examples, Warren demonstrates how facing mortality together can strengthen relationships, deepen resilience, and help communities rediscover their capacity for...read more...