Founded by Dr. Max Thaler in the belief that every life is worth remembering

Joan at our parents' grave 2003

Our father believed that every life was worth remembering. People should interview one another, keep tape recordings, keep photographs, keep journals. Cemeteries should contain libraries of artifacts so that not just a stone and a name were left behind by a person who'd passed on, but living memories that could be accessed by loved ones far into the future. In keeping with this belief, he established a society, The Unforgettables, hoping to make his dreams a reality.

Joan Dobbie
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FOUNDING OF THE UNFORGETTABLES
DECEMBER 11, 1967

Taken from a speech by Dr. Max Thaler :


My dear friends, I am very pleased that you have accepted the invitation of Mrs. Klein and myself to come here and consider the founding of a new society, which I would like to call THE UNFORGETTABLES. For over two years, I have been occupied with the idea of preserving episodes of life of every living person which could be reproduced at any desired occasion many, many years after the person has passed away...

Ladies and gentlemen, (existence) does not begin at birth and does not end with death. Our life on earth is just one episode, an important and beautiful one, one link in the unending chain which connects the life before to the life thereafter. (Physical) life is a beautiful and very important episode. How else could we explain why our creator made our body such a marvel? And yet, this beautiful episode of earthly life can break up at any unexpected moment-- neither age, nor state of health, nor riches, guarantees longer life. We all have seen tragic events (such) as the following: an embryo dies in the mother’s womb; a child is stillborn; children, parents and grandparents die in an airplane crash; a hurricane or earthquake wipes out hundreds of people-- rich, poor, old, young, healthy and sick; a car accident kills a soldier who came home from battlefields without a scratch; mine workers are buried alive hundreds of feet underground in a shaft explosion. We all could go on with these and similar episodes for hours. Don’t get sad about these events. Life is still beautiful and worthwhile. It’s not the length of life that determines its real value and happiness. What you are doing with your life while you exist -- that counts.

Ladies and gentlemen, life is a precious jewel our creator bestowed upon us. Let’s enjoy it and live it to its fullest; let’s keep good records of it; let’s meet on desired occasions and talk about it; let’s tell our friends what nice things we have seen, done and experienced. We can talk about them, can show pictures, listen to tape recordings, etc. etc. Let’s keep these records of our life as precious documents and let’s keep them after our departure.

... Our burial rites have been the same for hundreds of years. An addition to the old valued burial rites is, in my opinion, overdue. What is being done so far when a person passes away? Family and friends (come) to the wake. They bring flowers; they attend the church service; they listen to the obituary; they attend the burial itself. The body is laid to rest and later on, a stone is... erected. The stone states the name, dates of birth and death, and occasionally an epitaph is added. Several times a year, flowers are brought to the grave and family and friends visit it on certain occasions. This has been the way for hundreds of years. Does all this keep a detailed memory of how the deceased has lived? No. With time, episodes of his life are... forgotten. Even his own family forgets how he lived, how he talked, how he cried, how he laughed, what he did. The dead one dies a second death.

Ladies and gentlemen, we all watch old movies. We see actors many years dead, the beautiful things they are doing. They are alive again and again. Why should only a few privileged people be remembered in such a perfect way? We all deserve it and we all can (have) it. Now I shall tell you what the new burial rite should be: When a person passes away, his life records should be gathered and kept in a safe box. This could be deposited in the grave stone or in the memorial hall at the cemetary. The memorial hall should have all facilities for safe keeping and reviewing life records. When family and friends gather (to pay the) the last respects to the deceased, they should (each) bring a gift which depicts a life episode of the deceased’s life... a picture, a tape recording, a letter, a certificate, a trophy, etc. This (they would) give to the life records. When years go by and the memory fades away, this person will never be forgotten. His life will not (have been) in vain. He will always be remembered because he is a member of the Unforgettables.

My dear friends, we are at present a small group to start to implement a great idea, which in time will spread all over the (world.) What does this mean to the Unforgettables, and what does it mean to the others? The Unforgettables will lose their fear of death; for them, life will not any more be a fleeting shadow, because they will know that their life experience will be meaningful. It will have long lasting influence on many generations to come.Their lives will be true links from the past to the future. The cemetaries, instead of being dreadful, sorrowful cities of the dead, will be converted into solemn resting places of the Unforgettables. (A cemetary will be) a mixture of parks, temples, museums, a site filled with beauty and hope and with the grandeur of life.

What will it mean to the others? It will create many new jobs. Ghost writers for biographies; photographers for still and moving pictures will be in great demand; tape recorders, cameras, projectors, films etc. will be used plentifully; grave stones will have to be redesigned with compartments for the safebox; memorial halls will have to be erected, the graveyards will have to be changed into park-like places with benches to sit on and flower beds to look at, to create an atmosphere of hope, instead of the present outlook of despair. Of course, all that will cost money, but it will be wisely spent.

A few additional remarks -- a new society, the Unforgettables, has been founded. The purpose is to live a useful, decent and happy life. Make nice records of your life experiences, keep them for the future, and in this way, your life will be meaningful and long lasting and will have profound influence on the future. The symbollic flower of the Unforgettables should be the forget-me-not. The motto of THE UNFORGETTABLES should be, “Don’t forget and you won’t be forgotten.” One copy of the (deceased’s) life records should be kept at the family’s home. One copy should be placed in the library of the hometown. One copy should be kept at the place of (his) long time employment or professional work, and, of course, one copy should be at the graveyard.


Dr. Max Thaler
Dec. 11, 1967
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