I don’t think much about death, I find the idea of it intimidating. But I was raised a good Catholic boy, so I would choose burial over cremation.

I remember when we were kids and living in Abruzzo [on Italy’s Adriatic coast] we’d go to the village where my mother was born, once a month, and visit the cemetery. I was just a kid, so I found the crypts both confronting and exciting, but it was very emotional for my mother, who lost several of her brothers and sisters very young. They’re all buried there, side by side.